CRIMINAL  SCIENCE  MONOGRAPH  No.  1 

Supplement  to  the  Journal  of 

THE  AMERICAN  INSTITUTE  OF  CRIMINAL  LAW 
AND  CRIMINOLOGY 


PATHOLOGICAL  LYING, 
ACCUSATION,  AND  SWINDLING 

A  STUDY  IN  FORENSIC  PSYCHOLOGY 


BY 


WILLIAM   HEALY,  A.B.,  M.D. 

DIRECTOR,  PSYCHOPATHIC  INSTITUTE,  JUTENILE  COURT,  CHICAGO 

ASSOCIATE  PEOFESSOR  NERVOUS  AND  MENTAL  DISEASES 

CHICAGO  POLICLINIC  ;   AUTHOR  OF  "  THE 

INDIVIDUAL  DELINQUENT'* 

AND 

MARY  TENNEY  HEALY,  B.L. 


BOSTON 

LITTLE,  BROWN,  AND  COMPANY 
1915 


Copyright,  1915, 
BY  LITTLE,  BROWN,  AND  COMPANY. 

All  rights  reserved 
Published,  September,  1916 


Set  up  and  electrotyped  by  J.  S.  Gushing  Co.,  Norwood,  Mass.,  U.S.A. 
Presswork  by  S.  J.  ParkhilJ  &  Co.,  Boston,  Mass.,  U.S.A. 


MERRITT  W.  PINCKNEY 

JUDGE  OF  THE  JUVENILE  COURT 
CHICAGO 

"  Bonus  et  sapiens  et  peritus  utilitatis 
dignitatisque  civilis." 


331163 


EDITORIAL  ANNOUNCEMENT 

THIS  volume  is  one  of  a  series  of  Monograph 
Supplements  to  the  Journal  of  Criminal  Law  and 
Criminology.  The  publication  of  the  Monographs  is 
authorized  by  the  American  Institute  of  Criminal 
Law  and  Criminology.  Such  a  series  has  become 
necessary  in  America  by  reason  of  the  rapid  develop- 
ment of  criminological  research  in  this  country  since 
the  organization  of  the  Institute.  Criminology  draws 
upon  many  independent  branches  of  science,  such  as 
Psychology,  Anthropology,  Neurology,  MecLicine,  Edu- 
cation^ Sociology,  and  Law.  These  sciences  con- 
tribute to  our  understanding  of  the  nature  of  the 
delinquent  and  to  our  knowledge  of  those  conditions 
in  home,  occupation,  school,  prison,  etc.,  which  are 
best  adapted  tcTelicit  the  behavior  that  the  race  has 
learned  to  approve  and  cherish. 

This  series  of  Monographs,  therefore,  will  include 
researches  in  each  of  these  departments  of  knowledge 
insofar  as  they  meet  our  special  interest. 

It  is  confidently  anticipated  that  the  series  will 
stimulate  the  study  of  the  problems  of  delinquency, 
the  State  control  of  which  commands  as  great  ex- 


vm 


EDITORIAL  ANNOUNCEMENT 


penditure  of  human  toil  and  treasure  as  does  the  con- 
trol of  constructive  public  education. 


ROBERT  H.  GAULT, 

Editor  of  the  Journal  of  Crim- 
inal Law  and  Criminology, 
Northwestern  University. 

FREDERIC  B.  CROSSLEY, 

Northwestern  University. 
JAMES  W.  GARNER, 
University  of  Illinois. 


COMMITTEE  ON  PUB- 
LICATION OF  THE 
AMERICAN  INSTI- 
TUTE OF  CRIMINAL 
LAW  AND  CRIMI- 
NOLOGY. 


PREFACE 

CAREFUL  studies  of  offenders  make  group-types 
stand  out  with  distinctness.  Very  little  advancement 
in  the  treatment  of  delinquents  or  criminals  can  be 
expected  if  typical  characteristics  and  their  bearings 
are  not  understood.  The  group  that  our  present  work 
concerns  itself  with  is  comparatively  little  known, 
although  cases  belonging  to  it,  when  met,  attract  much 
attention.  It  is  to  all  who  should  be  acquainted  with 
these  striking  mental  and  moral  vagaries,  particularly 
in  their  forensic  and  psychological  significances,  that 
our  essay  is  addressed.  In  some  cases  vital  for  the 
administration  of  justice,  an  understanding  of  the  types 
of  personality  and  of  behavior  here  under  discussion  is 
a  prime  necessity. 

The  whole  study  of  characterology  or  the  motiva- 
ti^^oTc^ducElk extremely  new.,  and  there  are  many 
indications  of  immense  values  in  uncovered  fields. 
Some  appreciation  of  this  fact  may  be  gained  from  the 
following  pages  which  show  the  possibility  of  tracing 
one  form  of  behavior  to  its  source. 

We  have  laid  under  contribution  practically  the 
entire  literature  on  the  subject,  almost  none  of  which 
is  in  English,  and  also  the  thorough-going  longitudinal 
case  studies  made  by  the  Juvenile  Psychopathic  Insti- 
tute of  Chicago.  In  the  latter  material  there  was 


x  PREFACE 

found  much  of  value  bearing  upon  the  subject  of 
lying,  false  accusation,  and  swindling  of  pathological 
character. 

Our  institute,  later  taken  over  officially  by  the  Juve- 
nile Court  of  Cook  County,  was  for  five  years  main- 
tained upon  a  foundation  provided  by  Mrs.  W.  F. 
Dummer. 

WILLIAM   HEALY 

MARY  TENNEY  HEALY 
WIITNETKA,  ILL. 
June,  1915. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER 


PAGE 


EDITORIAL  ANNOUNCEMENT vii 

PREFACE ix 

I.    INTRODUCTION 1 

II.    PREVIOUS  STUDIES 14 

III.  CASES  OF  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING  AND  SWINDLING        .  42 

IV.  CASES  OF  PATHOLOGICAL  ACCUSATION         .        .        .  162 
V.    CASES    OF    PATHOLOGICAL    LYING    IN    BORDER-LINE 

MENTAL  TYPES      .        .        .        .        .        .        .  218 

VI.    CONCLUSIONS 249  • 

INDEX  OF  AUTHORS ^     .        .  281 

INDEX  OF  TOPICS                                          .        .        .  283 


PATHOLOGICAL  LYING,  ACCU- 
SATION, AND  SWINDLING 


CHAPTER  I 
INTRODUCTION 

THROUGH  comparison  of  the  literature  on  pathological 
lying  with  our  own  extensive  material  we  are  led  to 
perceive  the  insistent  necessity  for  closer  definition  of 
the  subject  than  has  been  heretofore  offered.  Rea- 
sons for  excluding  types  earlier  described  as  pathologi- 
cal liars  will  be  found  throughout  our  work.  Better 
definition  goes  hand  in  hand  with  better  understanding, 
and  it  is  only  natural  that  formal,  detailed  contempla- 
tion of  the  subject  should  lead  to  seeing  new  lines  of 
demarcation. 

Definition:  Pathol^g^Hyin^s^lsjfication  entirely  •/ 
d^ro£prtionate_to_.any-jdiscernible  end  in.  view,  en- 
gaged in  by  a  person  who,  at  the  time  of  observation, 
cannot  definitely  be  declared  insane,  feebleminded,  or 
epileptic.  Such  lying  rarely,  if  ever,  centers  about  a 
single  event ;  although  exhibited  in  very  occasional  cases 
for  a  short  time,  it  manifests  itself  most  frequently  by 
far  over  a  period  of  years,  or  even  a  life  time.  It  rep- 
resents a  trait  rather  than  an  episode.  Extensive,  very 
complicated  fabrications  may  be  evolved.  This  has 
led  to  the  synonyms  :  —  mythomania ;  pseudologia 
phantastica. 

1  ;'-.';' 


2  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

It  is  true  that  in  the  previous  literature,  under  the 
head  of  pathological  liars,  cases  of  epilepsy,  insanity, 
and  mental  defect  have  been  cited,  but  that  is  mis- 
leading. A  clear  terminology  should  be  adopted. 
The  patholdgical  liar  forms  a  species  by  himself  and  as 
such  does  not  necessarily  belong  to  any  of  these  larger 
classes.  It  is,  of  course,  scientifically  permissibl 
well  as  practically  valuable,  to  speak  of  the  epileptic 
or  the  otherwise  abnormal  person  through  his  di- 
engaging  in  pathological  lying,  but  the  main  classifica- 
tion of  an  individual  should  be  decided  by  the  main 
abnormal  condition. 

A  good  definition  of  pathological  accusation  follows 
the  above  lines.  It  is  false  accusation  indulged  in 
apart  from  any  obvious  purpose.  Like  the  swindling  of 
pathological  liars,  it  appears  objectively  more  perni- 
cious than  the  lying,  but  it  is  an  expression  of  the  same 
tendency.  The  most  striking  form  of  this  type  of  con- 
duct is,  of  course,  self -accusation.  Mendacious  self- 
iinpeachnicnt  seems  especially  convincing  of  abnormal- 
ity. Such  falsification  not  infrequently  is  episodic. 

The  inclusion  of  swindling  in  our  discussion  is  due  to 
the  natural  evolution  of  this  type  of  conduct  from  path- 
ological lying.  Swindling  itself  could  hardly  be  called 
a  pathological  phenomenon,  since  it  is  readily  explicable 
by  the  fact  that  it  is  entered  into  for  reasons  of  tangible 
gain,  but  when  it  is  the  product  of  the  traits  shown  by  a 
pathological  liar  it,  just  as  the  lying  itself,  is  a  part  of 
the  pathological  picture.  It  is  the  most  concrete 
pression  of  the  individual's  tendencies.  This  has  been 
agreed  to  by  several  writers,  for  all  have  found  it  easy 
to  trace  the  development  of  one  form  of  behavior  into 
the  other.  As  Wulffen  says,  "  Die  Gabe  zu  Schwindeln 
ist  eine  '  Lust  am  Fabulieren.' '  Over  and  over  again 


INTRODUCTION  3 

we  have  observed  the  phenomenon  as  the  pathological 
liar  gradually  developed  the  tendency  to  swindle. 

Notwithstanding  the  grave  and  sensational  social 
issues  which  arise  out  of  pathological  lying,  accusation, 
and  swindling,  there  is  very  little  acquaintance  with  the 
characteristics  of  cases  showing  this  type  of  behavior, 
even  by  the  people  most  likely  to  meet  the  problems 
presented.  Lawyers,  or  other  professional  specialists 
have  slight  knowledge  of  the  subject.  Perhaps  this 
is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  pathological  lying  does  not 
follow  the  usual  lines  of  abnormal  human  behavior,  un- 
less it  be  among  the  insane  where  other  symptoms  pro- 
claim the  true  nature  of  the  case.  Another  reason  for 
the  slight  acquaintance  with  the  subject  is  the  fact  that 
almost  nothing  has  been  written  on  it  in  English. 

The  important  part  which  behavior  of  this  type  some- 
times plays  in  court  work  is  witnessed  to  by  the  records 
of  our  own  cases  as  well  as  those  cited  in  the  previous 
literature.  The  legal  issues  presented  by  pathological 
lying  may  be  exceedingly  costly.  These  facts  make  it 
important  that  the  well-equipped  lawyer,  as  well  as 
the  student  of  abnormal  psychology,  be  familiar  with 
the  specific,  related  facts.  For  such  students  the  car- 
dinal point  of  recognition  of  this  class  of  conduct  may 
at  once  be  stated  to  be  its  apparent  baselessness. 

The  only  method  by  which  good  understanding  may 
be  obtained  of  the  types  of  personality  and  mentality 
involved  in  pathological  lying,  accusation,  and  swind- 
ling, as  well  as  of  the  genetics  of  these  tendencies,  is  by 
the  detailed  reading  of  typical  case  histories.  In  this 
fact  is  found  the  reason  for  the  presentation  of  this 
monograph.  Appreciation  of  the  nature  of  the  phenom- 
ena can  only  be  obtained  through  acquaintance  with 
an  entire  career.  Any  of  us  may  be  confronted  by 


4  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

fabrications  so  consistent  as  to  leave  at  one  or  several 
interviews  the  impression  of  truth. 

Our  selection  of  literature  to  summarize  needs  no 
explanation.  We  have  simply  taken  all  that  we  could 
find  which  specifically  bears  on  the  problem.  Lying,  in 
general,  especially  as  a  form  of  delinquency,  has  received 
attention  at  the  hands  of  some  authors,  notably  Ferriani ] 
and  Duprat.2  The  falsifications  and  phantasies  of  chil- 
dren and  adolescents  have  been  dealt  with  by  Stanley 
Hall.3  None  of  these  goes  into  the  important,  narrower 
field  with  which  we  are  here  concerned.  The  foreign 
literature  is  vitally  important  in  its  opening  up  of  the 
subject,  but  from  the  standpoint  of  modem  psycho- 
pathology  it  does  not  adequately  cover  the  ground. 

The  fabrications,  often  quite  clever,  of  the  clearly 
insane,  which  in  earlier  literature  are  confounded  with 
pathological  lying,  we  have  discriminated  against  as 
not  being  profitable  for  us  to  discuss  here,  while  not 
denying,  however,  the  possibility  in  some  instances  of 
lies  coexisting  with  actual  delusions.  We  well  remem- 
ber a  patient,  a  brilliant  conversationalist  and  letter 
writer,  but  an  absolutely  frank  case  of  paranoia,  whom 
we  had  not  seen  for  a  period  during  which  she  had 
concocted  a  new  set  of  notions  involving  even  her 
own  claim  to  royal  blood,  confronting  us  with  a  merry, 
significant  smile  and  the  remark,  "  You  don't  believe 
my  new  stories,  do  you  ?  " 

A  short  statement  on  the  relation  of  lying  to  delin- 
quency may  be  of  interest  here.  Ferriani's  discussion  4 

1  Ferriani,  Lino,  "  L'Enfance  criminelle." '  Milan,  1894.  (Trans.  Minder- 
jahrige  Verbrecher.  Berlin,  1896.) 

a  Duprat,  G.-L.,  "  Le  mensonge."     Alcan,  Paris,  1903. 

»  Hall,  G.  Stanley,  "Children's  Lies."  Amer.  Journal  of  Psychology, 
Jan.  1890;  pp.  59-70. 

4  loc.  cit. 


INTRODUCTION  5 

of  the  lying  of  500  condemned  juvenile  offenders,  with 
classification  of  their  lies,  ranging  from  self-defense, 
weakness,  and  fancy,  to  nobility  of  purpose,  does  not 
include  our  field.  Nor  does  he  leave  much  room  for 
appreciation  of  the  fact  we  very  definitely  have  ob- 
served, namely,  that  plenty  of  young  offenders  are 
robust  speakers  of  the  truth.  Our  analysis  1  of  the 
delinquencies  of  1000  young  repeated  offenders  care- 
fully studied  by  us  does  not  tell  the  proportion  of  truth 
tellers  as  distinguished  from  liars,  but  it  does  give  the 
number  in  which  lying  was  a  notable  and  excessive 
trait.  The  total  number  of  males  studied  was  694,  of 
females  306.  Ages  ranged  from  6  to  22  ;  average  about 
16  years. 

MALES       FEMALES 

Lying  —  counted  only  when  excessive  and  a 

notorious  characteristic  of  the  individual,    104          80 

(15%)    (26%) 
False  accusations  —  only  recorded  when  of  an 

excessive  and  dangerous  sort,  5  16 

(5%) 


The  exact  number  of  pathological  liars  is  not  deter- 
minable  in  our  series  because  of  the  shading  of  this 
lying  into  other  types.  It  would  be  safe  to  say  that 
8  or  10  of  the  1000  were  genuine  cases  of  pathological 
lying  according  to  our  definition,  that  5  more  engaged 
in  pathological  false  accusations  without  a  notorious 
career  in  other  kinds  of  lying.  Examples  of  border- 
line mental  cases  showing  fantastic  lying  and  accusa- 
tions are  given  in  our  special  chapter.  Some  of  the 
cases  of  pathological  lying  given  in  this  work  do  not 
belong  to  the  series  of  1000  cases  analyzed  for  statistical 
purposes.  The  extraordinary  number  of  times  several 

1  Vide  p.  140,  in  chapter  on  Statistics,  William  Ilealy,  "  The  Individual 
Delinquent."     Little,  Brown,  and  Co.     Boston,  1915. 


6  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

of  these  individuals  appeared  in  court  (resembling  in 
this  respect  the  European  case  histories)  shows  that  the 
total  amount  of  trouble  caused  by  this  class  is  not  in 
the  least  represented  by  their  numerical  proportion 
among  offenders. 

We  have  purposely  limited  our  own  material  for 
presentation.  Here,  as  elsewhere,  we  insist  on  the 
value  of  genetics  and  consequently  have  busied  our- 
selves at  length  with  those  cases  where  we  could  gain 
something  like  an  adequate  conception  of  the  anteced- 
ents in  family  and  developmental  histories  and  where 
some  measure  of  the  psychogenetic  features  could  be 
taken.  Cases  of  older  individuals  with  their  pro- 
longed and  often  picturesque  careers,  equivalent  to 
those  recounted  in  European  literature,  we  have  left 
strictly  alone.  One  ever  finds  that  the  older  the  individ- 
ual the  less  one  can  learn  satisfactorily  of  beginnings 
of  tendencies,  just  on  account  of  the  unreliability  of  the 
principal  actor  in  the  drama.  The  cases  of  older 
swindlers  at  first  sight  seem  to  offer  much  for  the  student 
of  criminalistics,  if  only  for  purely  descriptive  purposes, 
but  in  the  literature  we  have  failed  to  find  any  satis- 
factory studies  of  the  formative  years  of  such  car 
By  taking  instances  of  younger  pathological  liars, 
such  as  we  have  studied,  the  natural  progress  into 
swindling  can  be  readily  seen. 

In  court  work  we  have  been  brought  face  to  face 
with  many  cases  of  false  accusation  and,  of  course,  with 
plenty  of  the  usual  kind  of  lying.  Where  either  of  these 
has  been  entered  into  by  way  of  revenge  or  in  belief 
that  it  would  aid  in  getting  out  of  trouble,  no  further 
attention  has  been  paid  to  it  from  the  standpoint  of 
pathological  lying.  Our  acquaintance  with  some  pro- 
fessional criminals,  particularly  of  the  sneak-thief  or 


INTRODUCTION  7 

pick-pocket  class,  has  taught  us  that  living  conditions 
for  the  individual  may  be  founded  on  whole  careers  of 
misrepresentation  and  lies  —  for  very  understandable 
reasons.  Self -accusations  may  sometimes  be  evolved 
with  the  idea  of  gaining  directly  practical  results,  as 
when  a  lover  or  a  comrade  is  shielded,  or  when  there 
is  danger  of  a  larger  crime  being  fastened  on  the  self- 
incriminator. 

In  selection  and  treatment  of  our  material  we  have 
confined  ourselves  as  closely  as  possible  to  the  definition 
first  given  in  this  chapter  —  a  definition  that  after 
some  years  of  observation  we  found  could  be  made 
and  held  to.  While  we*  would  not  deny  that  some  of 
our  cases  may  eventually  find  their  way  into  an  insane 
hospital,  still  none  of  them,  except  some  we  have 
enumerated  under  the  name  of  border-line  types,  has 
so  far  shown  any  indication  of  this.  That  some  of  our 
cases  have  more  or  less  recovered  from  a  strongly- 
marked  and  prolonged  inclination  to  falsify  is  a  fact 
of  great  importance  for  treatment  and  prognosis. 

We  see  neither  reason  for  including  insane  cases  nor 
for  overlapping  the  already  used  classifications  which 
are  based  on  more  vital  facts  than  the  symptom  of 
lying.  Our  use  of  abnormal  cases  in  our  chapter, 
"  Illustrations  of  Border-Line  Types,"  will  be  perfectly 
clear  to  those  who  read  these  cases.  They  represent  the 
material  not  easily  diagnosed,  sometimes  after  long 
observation  by  professional  people,  or  else  they  are 
clearly  abnormal  individuals  who,  by  the  possession  of 
certain  capacities,  manage  to  keep  their  heads  well 
above  the  level  of  social  incompetency  as  judged  by 
the  world  at  large. 

We  have  introduced  only  the  cases  where  we  have 
had  ample  proof  that  the  individual  had  been  given,  to 


8  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

excessive  lying  of  our  peculiar  type.  In  the  court 
room  and  working  with  delinquents  outside  the  court, 
it  is  in  rare  instances  totally  impossible  to  know  where 
the  truth  finally  rests ;  such  have  been  left  out.  Then, 
too,  we  omit  cases  in  which  false  accusations  have 
about  them  the  shadow  of  even  a  suspicion  of  vindic- 
tiveness.  False  accusations  of  young  children  against 
parents  would  hardly  seem  to  have  such  a  basis,  and 
yet  in  some  instances  this  fact  has  come  out  clearly. 
Grudge-formation  on  the  part  of  young  individuals  has 
all  through  our  work  been  one  of  the  extraordinary 
findings ;  capacity  for  it  varies  tremendously  in  different 
individuals. 

Several  forms  of  excessive  lying,  particularly  those 
practised  by  children  and  adolescents,  are  not  disci  i 
by  us  because  they  are  largely  age  phenomena  and  only 
verge  upon  the  pathological  as  they  are  carried  over 
into  wider  fields  of  conduct.     The  fantasies  of  children, 
and  the  almost  obsessional  lying  in  some  young  adoles- 
cents, too,  we  avoid.     There  is  much  shading  of  tyi 
pathological  lying  into,  on  the  one  hand,  the  really  insane 
types,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  into  the  lying  whir 
to  be  explained  by  quite  normal  reactions  or  where  the 
tendency  to  mendacity  is  only  partially  developed. 

It  has  been  a  matter  of  no  small  interest  to  us  that 
in  planning  this  monograph  we  conceived  it  necessary 
to  consider  part  of  our  material  under  the  head  of 
episodic  pathological  lying  and  that  later  we  had  to 
omit  this  chapter.  Surely  there  had  been  cases  —  so  it 
seemed  to  us  at  first  —  where  purposeless  lying  had 
been  indulged  in  for  a  comparatively  short  time,  partic- 
ularly during  the  adolescent  period,  without  expression 
of  a  prevaricating  tendency  before  or  after  this  time. 
When  we  came  to  review  our  material  with  this  chapter 


INTRODUCTION  9 

in  mind  we  found  no  sufficient  verification  of  the  fact 
that  there  was  any  such  thing  as  episodic  pathological 
lying,  apart  from  peculiar  manifestations  in  cases  of 
epilepsy,  hysteria,  and  other  mental  abnormalities. 
A  short  career  of  extensive  lying,  not  unfrequently  met 
with  in  work  for  juvenile  courts  and  other  social 
agencies,  seems,  judging  from  our  material,  to  be  always 
so  mixed  up  with  other  delinquencies  or  unfortunate 
sex  experiences  that  the  lying,  after  all,  cannot  be 
regarded  as  purposeless.  It  is  indulged  in  most  often 
in  an  attempt  to  disguise  undesirable  truths.  That 
false  accusations  and  even  self-accusations  are  engaged 
in  for  the  same  purpose  goes  without  saying.  The 
girl  who  donned  man's  clothes,  left  home  and  lived  for 
months  a  life  of  lies  was  seeking  an  adventure  which 
would  offset  intolerable  home  conditions.  The  young 
woman  who  after  seeing  something  of  the  pleasures  of 
the  world  was  placed  hi  a  strict  religious  home  where  she 
told  exaggerated  stories  about  her  own  bad  behavior, 
endeavoring  to  get  more  freedom  elsewhere.  A 
young  fellow  whom  we  found  to  be  a  most  persistent 
and  consistent  liar  was  discovered  to  have  been  already 
well  schooled  in  the  art  of  professional  criminalistic 
self-protection.  So  it  has  gone.  Investigation  of 
each  of  these  episodic  cases  has  shown  the  fabrications 
to  emanate  either  from  a  distinctly  abnormal  personal- 
ity or  to  partake  of  a  character  which  rules  them  out  of 
the  realm  of  pathological  lying.  In  our  cases  of  tem- 
porary adolescent  psychoses  lying  was  rarely  found  a 
puzzling  feature ;  the  basic  nature  of  the  case  was  too 
easily  discoverable. 

A  fair  question  to  ask  at  this  point  is  whether  patholog- 
ical lying  is  ever  found  to  be  the  only  delinquency  of 
the  given  individual.  We  should  hesitate  to  deny 


"^  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

the  possibility  of  its  being  the  sole  offense,  but  in  our 
study  of  a  long  list  of  cases,  and  after  review  of  those 
reported  by  other  authors,  it  seems  practically  im- 
possible to  find  a  case  of  this.  The  tendencies  soon 
carry  the  person  over  to  the  production  of  other  delin- 
quencies, and  if  these  do  not  come  in  the  category  of 
punishable  offenses,  at  least,  through  the  trouble  and 
suffering  caused  others,  they  are  to  be  regarded  essen- 
tially as  misconduct. 

The  reverse  of  the  above  question  deserves  a  word 
or  two  of  attention;  are  there  marked  cases  of  delin- 
quency which  do  not  show  lying?  Surveying  the 
figures  of  Ferriani 1  who  enumerated  thousands  of  lies, 
belonging  to  his  nine  classes  of  prevarications,  which  a 
group  of  500  young  offenders  indulged  in,  one  would 
think  that  all  delinquents  are  liars  many  times  over. 
But  as  a  matter  of  fact  we  have  been  profoundly  aston- 
ished to  discover  that  a  considerable  percentage  of  the 
cases  we  have  studied,  even  of  repeated  offenders,  have 
proved  notably  truthful.  Occasionally  the  very  person 
who  will  engage  in  a  major  form  of  delinquency  will 
hesitate  to  lie.  Our  experience  shows  this  to  be  K  >^ 
true,  however,  of  sex  delinquency  than  perhaps  of  any 
other.  This  statement  is  based  on  general  observa- 
tions ;  the  accurate  correlations  have  not  been  worked 
up.  Occasionally  the  professional  criminal  of  many 
misdeeds  is  proud  of  his  uprightness  in  other  sphen 
behavior,  including  veracity.  But  even  here  one  would 
have  to  classify  carefully,  for  it  is  obvious  that  the 
typical  swindler  would  find  lying  his  best  cloak  of 
disguise.  On  the  other  hand,  a  bold  safe-blower  may 
look  down  with  scorn  upon  a  form  of  criminality  which 
demands  constant  mendacity. 

1  loc.  cit. 


INTRODUCTION  11 

Realizing  that  pathological  lying  is  a  type  of  delin- 
quency, and  following  the  rule  that  for  explanation  of 
conduct  tendencies  one  must  go  to  youthful  beginnings, 
we  have  attempted  to  gain  the  fullest  possible  informa- 
tion about  the  fundamentals  of  developmental  and 
family  history,  early  environment,  and  early  mental 
experiences.  Fortunately  we  have  often  been  able  to 
obtain  specific  and  probably  accurate  data  on  heredity. 
The  many  cases  which  have  been  only  partially  studied 
are  not  included.  Successive  cross-section  studies 
have  been  made  in  a  number  of  cases,  and  it  has  been 
possible  to  get  a  varying  amount  of  after-history. 
Observational,  historical,  and  analytical  data  thus 
accumulated  have  given  us  a  particularly  favorable 
opportunity  for  discerning  the  bases  of  this  special 
delinquent  tendency.  The  results  of  the  various  kinds 
of  social  treatment  which  have  been  undertaken  are 
not  the  least  interesting  of  our  facts. 

To  enumerate  the  results  obtained  on  the  many 
mental  tests  given  in  most  cases  seems  quite  unnecessary 
for  the  purpose  of  this  monograph.  We  have  referred  to 
a  few  points  of  special  interest  and  rarely  have  desig- 
nated the  results  on  tests  in  our  series.  In  general, 
the  reader  probably  will  be  better  off  with  merely  the 
statement  of  the  principal  findings  and  of  the  mental 
diagnosis. 

Of  much  interest  for  the  present  subject  is  the  develop- 
ment of  psychological  studies  of  testimony  or  report. 
Because  of  the  natural  expectation  that  the  pathological 
liar  might  prove  to  be  an  unreliable  witness  our  studies 
on  this  point  will  be  offered  in  detail.  For  years  we 
have  been  giving  a  picture  memory  test  on  the  order 
of  one  used  extensively  abroad.  This  "  Aussage  " 
Test  is  the  one  described  as  Test  VI  in  our  monograph 


12  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

on  Practical  Mental  Classification.1  More  recently 
our  studies  on  the  psychology  of  testimony  have  led  us 
into  wider  fields  of  observation,  and  here  the  group  of 
cases  now  under  discussion  may  have  to  stand  by 
themselves.  The  picture,  the  record  of  testimony  on 
which  is  given  in  some  detail  in  our  case  histories,  is 
that  of  a  butcher's  shop  with  objects  and  actions  that 
are  universally  comprehended.  After  careful  and  fair 
explanation  of  what  is  about  to  be  undertaken,  the 
picture  is  exposed  for  ten  seconds,  and  then  the  exam- 
inee is  asked  to  give  a  free  recital  of  all  he  saw.  "When 
he  states  that  no  more  is  remembered  he  is  questioned 
on  omitted  details.  (All  told,  there  are  about  50 
details  of  varying  importance  in  the  picture.)  During 
the  progress  of  this  part  of  the  examination  he  is  asked 
if  he  saw  7  objects  which  might  well  be  in  a  butcher 
shop,  but  which  are  not  in  the  picture.  This  is  the 
test  for  susceptibility  to  suggestion.  All  points  are 
carefully  scored.  Norms  on  this  test,  as  on  many 
others,  it  seems  hardly  fair  to  give  by  averages  —  there 
is  much  variation  according  to  mentality  and  even 
personality  groups.  Practically  all  of  our  cases  of 
pathological  lying  range  above  the  age  of  young  child- 
hood, so  it  is  not  necessary  here  to  discuss  the  character- 
istics of  young  children's  testimony.  Perhaps  it  is 
sufficient  to  say  that  the  ordinary  individual  recalls 
voluntarily  or  upon  questioning  upwards  of  20  items, 
and  does  not  give  incorrect  items  to  any  extent.  On 
questioning  he  may  perhaps  accept  one  or  two  of  the 
seven  suggestions,  but  when  details  in  general  are 
asked  for  he  does  not  add  fictional  items  more  than  are 

1  "  Tests  for  Practical  Mental  Classification,"  by  William  Healy  and 
Grace  M.  Fernald,  Monograph  No.  54.  Psychological  Review  Pub.  Co., 
1911,  Princeton  University,  Princeton,  N.  J. 


INTRODUCTION  13 

accounted  for  by  some  little  slip  of  memory.  One  can 
find  definite  types  of  intellectual  honesty,  even  among 
children  of  10  or  12  years  of  age,  when  there  is  no 
tampering  with  the  truth;  if  an  item  has  not  been 
observed,  there  is  no  effort  to  make  it  seem  otherwise. 
For  discussion  of  the  results  on  this  test  among  our 
pathological  liars  we  refer  to  our  chapter  on  conclusions. 

The  short  summary  of  causative  factors  given  at  the 
end  of  the  case  study  deals  only  with  the  factors  of 
delinquency.  To  avoid  misinterpretation  of  the  coordi- 
nated facts,  what  they  are  focused  upon  should  ever  be 
remembered.  The  statement  of  these  ascertained 
factors  brings  out  many  incidental  points  which  should 
be  of  interest  to  lawyers  and  other  students  of  criminal- 
is  tics. 

It  should  be  needless  to  state  to  our  professional 
readers  that  the  personalities  represented  in  our  case 
histories  are  entirely  fictitious,  but  that  alterations  have 
been  made  only  in  such  facts  as  will  not  impair  scientific 
values.  N^/Ve  confess  to  no  particular  pleasure  in  writing 
up  this  rather  sordid  material ;  the  task  is  undertaken 
because  such  studies  offer  the  only  way  to  gain  that 
better  understanding  which  is  necessary  for  adequate 
treatment  of  special  types  of  human 


CHAPTER  II 
PREVIOUS  STUDIES 

THE  subject  of  pathological  lying  was  first  definitely 
brought  to- the  attention  of  the  medical  and  legal  pro- 
fessions by  the  studies  of  Delbriick.1  The  aim  of  this 
work  was  to  follow  the  development'of  a  symptom  but 
little  commented  upon  up  to  this  time,  a  symptom,  as  he 
says,  found  in  every  healthy  person  in  slight  degree, 
but  in  some  cases  rising  to  pathological  significance  and 
perhaps  dominating  the  entire  picture  of  abnormal 
traits  —  thus  becoming  pathognomonic.  This  symp- 
tom he  at  the  outset  calls  lying. 

Through  an  elaborate  and  exhaustive  investigation 
of  the  lies  told  by  five  patients  over  a  period  of  years, 
he  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  form  of  falsifying 
in  these  cases  deserves  a  new  and  separate  name.  It 
was  not  ordinary  lying,  or  delusion,  or  false  memory, 
these  words  express  only  part  of  the  conception; 
hence  he  coined  the  new  term,j)seudologia  pliant astira, 
to  cover  the  species  of  lying  with  which  he  \vas  con- 
cerned. Later  German  writers  have  also  adopted  his 
terminology. 

To  emphasize  the  method  by  which  he  arrived  at  this 

"  Die  pathologische  Luge  und  die  psychisch  abnormen  Schwindlor. 
Eine  Untersuchung tiber  den  allmahlichen  Uebergang eines  normalcn  psvrho- 
logischen  Vorgangs  in  ein  pathologisches  Symptom,  fur  Aerzte  und  Juristen." 
Pp.  131,  Stuttgart,  1891. 

14 


PREVIOUS  STUDIES  15 

conclusion  and  to  gain  at  the  same  time  some  knowledge 
of  the  problems  he  dealt  with,  we  may  review  in  bare 
outline  his  case-studies. 

The  first  patient  presented  by  Delbriick  was  an 
Austrian  maid-servant  who  in  her  wanderings  through 
Austria  and  Switzerland  had  played  at  various  times 
the  roles  of  Roumanian  princess,  Spaniard  of  royal 
lineage,  a  poor  medical  student,  and  the  rich  friend  of  a 
bishop.  Her  lying  revealed  a  mixture  of  imagination, 
boastfulness,  deception,  delusion,  and  dissimulation. 
She  romanced  wonderfully  about  her  royal  birth  and 
wrote  letters  purporting  to  be  from  a  cardinal  to  herself. 
She  fled  disguised  as  a  man  from  an  educational  institu- 
tion to  Switzerland  where  her  sex  was  discovered.  It 
appeared  that  she  was  subject  to  contrary  sex  feelings 
and  thought  of  herself  as  a  man.  She  was  under  the 
observation  of  Krafft-Ebing  at  one  time.  He  consid- 
ered it  at  least  as  a  case  of  paranoia.  Others  had 
determined  the  girl  to  be  a  psychopath  who  indulged 
in  simulations  and  lies.)  Delbriick  denominated  it  a 
case  of  direct  lying  with  a  tendency  to  phantasies, 
delusions,  and  dissimulations,  Delbriick  from  this 
case  argues  that  a  mixture  of  lies  and  delusions  is 
possible,  comparing  such  a  state  with  dreaming  and 
with  the  hypnotic  condition  in  which  one  follows  the 
suggestion  of  the  hypnotizer  and  is  still  aware  of  the 
fact.  Jt  was  evident  at  times  that  this  girl  half  be- 
lieved her  own  stories,  then  again  that  she  had  for- 
gotten her  former  lies.  In  her,  Delbriick  considers 
perverted  sex  feeling  and  hysteria  revealed  a  brain 
organization  abnormal  from  birth.  There  was  the 
instinctive  tendency  to  lie. 

The  second  patient,  an  epileptic  girl,  had  been  many 
times  imprisoned  and  also  sent  to  the  Charite  for 


16  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

examination  into  her  sanity  before  Delbriick  saw  her. 
Her  peculiar  method  was  to  approach  strangers,  claiming 
to  be  a  relative  coming  from  another  city  to  visit. 
If  cordially  received  she  would  stay  as  long  as  her 
welcome  lasted,  then  depart  taking  with  her  any  of 
their  possessions  her  fancy  chose.  Many  prominent 
physicians  examined  her  and  were  unable  to  decide 
as  to  her  responsibility;  judges  and  others  said  she 
was  a  willful  deceiver,  a  refined  swindler.  Delbriick, 
looking  deeper,  found  that  she  was  suffering  from  hys- 
teria, having  hystero-epileptic  seizures  with  following 
delirium,  or  rather  twilight  states.  Though  her  delin- 
quencies seemed  to  show  cunning  and  skill,  a  careful 
investigation  revealed  the  fact  that  this  was  merely 
aberrant.  Generally  her  thieving  was  undertakr-n  in 
feebleminded  fashion;  many  times  she  stole  things 
worthless  to  herself.  Evidences  of  her  patholoi 
mentality  were  that  she  would  give  orders  for  grocer i<  s, 
would  buy  children's  clothes,  or  send  for  a  physician 
under  an  assumed  name.  She  might  not  go  back  for 
the  groceries,  but  after  ordering  them  would  say  she 
would  return  with  the  carriage.  The  characteristic 
fact  throughout  her  career  was  that  she  wished  to 
appear  to  be  some  one  wealthier,  more  influential  than 
she  was.  Delbriick  classifies  her  as  high-grade  feeble- 
minded, suffering  from  convulsive  attacks  and  peculiar 
states  of  consciousness,  with  a  morbid  tendency  to 
lying.  ^  She  possessed  no  power  to  realize  the  culpable 
naturej  of  her  acts  when  she  was  performing  them. 

His  third  patient  as  a  boy  appeared  normal  both 
mentally  and  physically.  In  his  youth  he  went  through 
the  gymnasium  and  then  studied  theology.  He  spent 
money  very  freely  on  clothing  and  books,  but  at  this 
period  neither  stole  nor  lied.  After  finishing  his 


PREVIOUS  STUDIES  it 

theological  studies,  he  preached  in  his  home  town  and 
was  regarded  as  a  young  man  of  great  promise.  Then 
came  a  change;  he  began  to  write  strange  letters, 
telling  of  some  positions  offered  him,  he  borrowed 
money  freely  from  relatives  and  friends  who  were 
willing  to  give  because  they  believed  in  his  coming 
career.  When  studied,  it  was  concluded  by  Delbriick 
that  this  was  a  case  of  constitutional_psychosis,  BjsTenSr, 
moral  insanity,  and  psycTJ^pathy  —  all  of  these  forms 
being  interrelated.  Outside  of  masturbation,  begun  in 
early  childhood  and  indulged  in  excessively  at  times, 
no  causal  factors  were  discovered.  He  considered 
that  this  case  offered  a  good  illustration  of  the  peculiar 
coexistence  of  real  lies  and  delusions  in  the  same*  in- 
dividual. 

His  fourth  case  was  that  of  an  artful,  deceitful, 
arrogant,  selfish  boy,  always  clever  in  excuses,  who  had 
stolen  from  the  age  of  twelve,  often  stolen  things  that 
he  threw  away.  Though  of  Protestant  family,  he 
delighted  to  draw  Catholic  insignia  and  embroider 
religious  characters.  He  finally  entered  the  university, 
always  lying  and  stealing.  At  the  end  of  three  months 
he  was  taken  home  in  debt  2000  marks.  He  later 
became  a  Catholic.  Outside  of  normal  expense  he  had 
cost  his  father  28,000  marks.  By  the  time  he  was 
studied  he  had  already  taken  opium  for  four  years, 
having  started  because  of  neuralgia.  There  had 
been  a  severe  operation  on  account  of  some  trouble 
with  the  teeth.  It  was  discovered  that  there  was 
contrary  sexual  feeling  in  this  case  also.  The  patient 
had  a  great  inclination  for  doing  woman's  handwork. 
Delbriick  again  considered  the  early  appearance  of 
character  anomalies  and  perverted  sex  feeling  to  prove 
a  deep-seated  abnormality  of  nervoiis  constitution. 


18  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

He  diagnosed  it  as  a  case  of  constitutional  psychosis; 
the  extent  of  the  abnormalities  showing  the  individual 
to  be  irresponsible. 

His  last  patient  was  an  alcoholic  adventurer,  early 
life  unknown,  who  had  an  idiotic  sister.  He  had 
lived  long  in  America  and  returned  to  Germany  full  of 
stories  of  his  wonderful  achievements -over  seas.  This, 
case  does  not  concern  us  except  to  emphasize  the  in- 
fluence of  alcohol  in  the  development  of  such  cases. 

This  outline  is  sufficient  to  show  the  justification  of 
his  conclusion,  namely,  that  just  as  in  healthy  people 
a  mixing  of  lies  and  mistakes  may  occur,  so  the  same 
combination  may  reach  a  pathological  height,  and  one 
can  diagnose  a  mixture  of  lies  with  delusions  or  false 
memories. 

These  studies  focus  our  attention  on  the  following 
points  which  are  valuable  to  emphasize  for  the  purpose 
of  this  monograph :  the  complexity  of  details  to  be 
examined  in  the  life  of  any  one  patient  in  whose  delin- 
quencies pathological  lying  is  a  factor,  the  variety  of 
cases  in  which  this  factor  may  occur,  hence  the  diffi- 
culties in  the  way  of  determining  the  extent  to  which 
the  patient  is  responsible  for  his  deeds  and  whether 
he  belongs  in  a  reformatory  or  an  insane  hospital. 
From  the  standpoint  of  society  Delbriick's  work  has 
great  use,  since  it  reveals  so  plainly  the  menace  tliat 
these  liars  are  to  their  families  and  to  the  community 
as  a  whole,  their  unscrupulousness  in  financial  dealings, 
their  tendencies  to  bring  false  accusations  involving  fami- 
lies and  friends  alike  in  useless  expense  and  litigation. 

German  studies  on  pseudologia  phantastica  since 
Delbriick's  time  have  followed  the  line  of  amplification 
of  his  views  and  clarification  of  the  subject  by  the 
addition  of  new  types. 


PREVIOUS  STUDIES       JL*      19 

Koppen  l  attempted  to  differentiate  sharply  and  to 
analyze  more  accurately  the  conception  of  the  patholog- 
ical lie.  He  found  it  impossible  to  make  an  absolute 
separation  between  pathological  lies  and  normal  lies. 
The  lies  of  the  mentally  diseased  are  seldom  patho- 
logical. They  lie,  but  their  lies  do  not  differ  from  those 
of  the  mentally  sound.  We  cannot  call  the  results 
delusional  lies.  Among  imbeciles  we  find  a  peculiar 
disposition  to  lying,  especially  among  those  of  criminal 
inclination.  Their  lies  do  not  separate  themselves 
either  in  content  or  in  relation  to  the  rest  of  their  ideas 
from  the  lies  of  the  mentally  diseased.  Here  follows 
his  positive  contribution  to  the  conception  /the  patho- 
logical lie  is  active  in  character,  a  whole  sequence  of 
experiences  is  fabricated  and  the  products  of  fancy^ 
brought  forward  with  a  certainty  that  is  astonishing,  j 
The  possibility  that  the  untruth  may  be  at  any  minute 
demolished  does  not  abash  the  liar  in  the  least.  Re- 
monstrances against  the  lies  make  no  impression.  On 
closer  inspection  we  find  that  the  liar  is  no  longer  free, 
he  has  ceased  to  be  master  of  his  own  lies,  the  lie  has 
won  power  over  him,  it  has  the  worth  of  a  real  experience,. 
In  the  final  stage  of  the  evolution  of  the  pathological 
lie,  it  cannot  be  differentiated  from  delusion.  Patho- 
logical lies  have  long  been  credited  to  hystericals,  they 
are  now  known  to  arise  in  alcoholics,  imbeciles,  de-  ^' 
generates.  All  pathological  liars  have  a  purpose,  i.e., 
to  decorate  their  own  person,  to  tell  something  interest- 
ing, and  an  ego  motive  is  always  present.  They  all 
lie  about  something  they  wish  to  possess  or  be. 

Koppen  offers  three  case  studies  :  I.  A  man  who  had 
suffered  from  many  epileptic    seizures  came    from  a 

1 "  Ueber  die  pathologische  LUgner,"  Charite-Annalen,  8,  1898.  Pp.  674- 
719.  - 


20  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

family  in  which  there  was  insanity.  He  gave  himself 
many  false  titles,  and  from  his  childhood  pathological 
lying  had  been  a  prominent  symptom.  As  an  example, 
when  he  married  against  his  father's  will,  he  at  the 
wedding  read  a  false  dispatch,  pretending  it  to  be 
congratulations  from  his  family.  Koppen  suggests 
that  this  individual  was  incapable  of  meeting  life  as  it 
really  was  and  he  therefore  wove  a  mass  of  phantasies. 
II.  A  young  man  charged  with  grave  falsifications. 
He  had  come  from  an  epileptic  family  and  himself  had 
slight  attacks  in  childhood.  He  bore  various  patho- 
logical stigmata.  Koppen  considered  that  the  patient 
believed  his  own  stories  about  his  rather  superior 
education  and  that  in  general  his  lies  became  delusions 
which  influenced  his  actions.  He  diagnosed  the  case 
as  psychotic;  insane  in  a  legal  sense.  III.  A  young 
man  undoubtedly  insane  brought  forward  his  patho- 
logical lies  with  such  force  that  Koppen  was  persuaded 
that  the  patient  believed  in  them. 

Bernard  Risch  l  has  seen  many  cases  of  delinquents 
with  more  or  less  marked  psychopathic  signs  in  which 
pathological  lying  was  the  focal  point.  He  reports 
five  cases  at  great  length,  in  all  of  whom  the  inclination 
to  fabricate  stories,  "  der  Hang  zum  fabulieren,"  is 
irresistible  and  apparently  not  to  be  repressed  by 
efforts  of  the  will.  Risch's  main  points,  built  up  from 
study  of  his  cases,  are  worthy  of  close  consideration  : 
1.  Mental  processes  similar  to  those  forming  the  basis 
of  the  impulse  to  literary  creation  in  normal  people 
lie  at  the  foundation  of  the  morbid  romances  and  fancies 
of  those  afflicted  with  pseudologia  phantastica.  The 

1 "  Ueber  die  phantastische  Form  des  degenerativen  Irrseins,  Pseudologia 
phantastica."  Allgemeine  Zeitschrift  fUr  Psychiatric.  65,  1908,  H.  4;  pp. 
576-639. 


»"-3 


PREVIOUS  STUDIES  21 

coercive  impulse  for  self-expression,  with  an  accom- 
panying feeling  of  desire  and  dissatisfaction,  plays  a 
similar  part  in  both.  That  the  making  up  of  tales  is  an 
end  in  itself  for  the  abnormal  swindler,  just  as  it  is  for 
the  normal  author,  seems  clear  to  Risch.  2.  The 
morbid  impulse  which  forces  "  zum  fabulieren "  is 
bound  up  with  the  desire  to  play  the  role  of  the  person 
depicted.  Fiction  and  real  life  are  not  separated  as  in 
the  mind  of  the  normal  author.  3.  The  bent  of  thought 
is  egocentric,  the  morbid  liar  and  swindler  can  think  of 
nothing  but  himself.  4.  There  is  a  reduction  of  the 
powers  of  attention  in  these  cases ;  only  upon  supposi- 
tion that  this  faculty  is  disturbed  can  we  account  for  the 
discrepancies  in  the  statements  of  patients.  One  has 
the  impression  that  their  memory  for  their  delinquencies 
is  not  clear.  Careful  investigation  proves  that  they 
do  not  like  to  remember  them  and  this  dislike  has  to  be 
overcome.  5.  There  is  a  special  weakness  in  judgment, 
which  for  general  purposes  is  sound.  The  train  of 
thought  is  logical,  but  in  ethical  discernment  the  lack 
appears.  The  pathological  liar  does  not  face  openly 
the  question  of  whether  his  lies  can  be  seen  through. 
Then  follows  a  closer  analysis  of  the  qualities  pos- 
sessed by  pathological  liars :  (a)  Their  range  of  ideas 
is  wide.  (6)  Their  range  of  interests  is  wider  than 
would  be  expected  from  their  grade  of  education. 

(c)  Their   perceptions   are   better   than   the   average. 

(d)  They  are  nimble  witted.     Their  oral  ^nd  written 
style  is  above  normal  in  fluency,     (e)  They  exhibit 
faultiness    in    the    development    of    conceptions    and 
judgments.     Their  judgment  is  sharp  and  clear  only 
as  far  as  their  own  person  does  not  come  into  considera- 
tion.    It  is  the  lack  of  any  self  criticism  combined  with 
an  abnormal  egocentric  trend  of  thought  that  biases 


22  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

their  judgments  concerning  themselves.  (/)  Psychic 
traumata  arise  perhaps  through  a  striking  reaction  in 
the  emotional  realm  towards  external  occurrences. 
(g)  Nearly  all  of  Risch's  cases  were  burdened  with  bad 
inheritance.  He  maintains  that,  above  all,  these  cases 
show  instability  and  psychic  excitability.  The  entire 
symptom  complex  arises  upon  a  basis  of  degeneracy. 
Essential  similarities  run  through  all  of  Risch's 
cases ;  it  is  perhaps  valuable  here  to  cite  a  couple  of 
them.  His  Case  I  is  that  of  a  soldier,  who  after  being 
released  from  prison  at  23  years  had  begun  his  military 
duty  and  in  a  short  time  attempted  suicide.  He  was 
then  studied  for  insanity.  It  was  found  that  he  gave 
long  accounts  of  his  experiences  as  a  chauffeur,  rendering 
his  story  with  fluent  details  about  hairbreadth  escapes 
and  other  adventures.  He  also  told  at  length  of  his 
love  affair  with  a  young  girl.  These  stories  were  dis- 
covered to  be  false  from  "  A  to  Z  " ;  he  did  not  clearly 
remember  them  later.  The  evolving  of  such  fabrica- 
tions was  all  along  one  of  his  chief  characteristics. 
Examination  showed  no  gross  intellectual  defect,  but 
there  were  certain  psychopathic  signs  which  had  been 
displayed  from  early  childhood  :  he  had  little  endurance 
and  was  unable  to  stand  criticism.  Emotions  befitting 
his  stories  were  correctly  expressed  by  him ;  there  \\  nv 
no  facial  evidences  of  conflict  or  discomfort.  It  was 
impossible  to  tell  from  his  physiognomy  that  he  was 
engaged  in  untruths.  Mentally  he  was  well  oriented 
and  his  thoughts  flowed  in  orderly  sequence.  Despite 
rather  limited  education  he  demonstrated  very  good 
style  in  his  conversation  and  his  letters.  The  train  of 
thought  was  expressed  coherently  and  logically,  so 
well  that  one  could  speak  of  him  as  having  literary 
ability.  Physically  he  was  quite  normal.  Investiga- 


PREVIOUS  STUDIES  23 

tion  of  antecedents  showed  that  he  was  born  of  an 
exceedingly  nervous  mother  (more  exact  diagnosis 
not  given)  and  that  he  had  a  feebleminded  brother. 
During  his  school  career  he  was  considered  to  have 
quite  fair  ability.  He  learned  no  trade,  and  after 
stopping  school  would  leave  a  position  upon  the  slight- 
est provocation.  Before  he  was  23  he  had  been  legally 
punished  many  times  for  stealing  and  had  spent,  all 
told,  over  three  years  in  prison.  Once  before  he  had 
attempted  suicide.  After  the  thorough  study  of  him 
at  23  he  was  placed  in  an  asylum.  There  he  was 
occupied  at  basket  weaving  and  was  chiefly  notable  for 
keeping  up  the  characteristics  that  were  peculiar  to 
him  before.  He  continually  lied  and,  indeed,  seemed 
to  get  his  main  pleasure  out  of  telling  fabulous  stories 
to  the  other  patients. 

Case  IV  was  a  man  of  31  years,  a  decorative  painter 
by  trade,  who  presented  himself  at  the  states  attorney's 
office  and  stated  that  in  a  fit  of  jealousy  he  had  shot 
and  killed  a  man.  Taking  up  the  case  it  was  soon 
found  that  this  was  quite  untrue  and  that  the  man  was 
a  chronic  liar.  He  seemed  much  astonished  when  he 
was  told  that  the  man  he  claimed  to  have  killed  was 
still  alive.  Further  study  of  this  self-accuser  showed 
that  he  had  been  punished  by  the  law  every  year  since 
he  was  16.  His  offenses  consisted  of  embezzling,  theft, 
forgery,  and  swindling.  In  all  he  had  served  about 
6|  years.  His  lying  was  so  much  a  part  of  his  mental 
life  that  he  seemed  to  be  unable  to  discriminate  between 
his  real  and  his  fancied  crimes.  He  not  only  invented 
stories,  but  was  much  inclined  to  play  some  role  created 
by  his  fancy.  There  seemed  to  be  a  method  in  his 
cheating  and  swindling  which  added  to  his  undoubted 
pleasure  in  lying.  His  peculiar  career  was  much 


24  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

furthered  by  the  possession  of  a  fluent  style  and  a  good 
memory  through  which  his  creations  were  built  up  in 
most  plausible  fashion.  He  proved  to  be  willingly 
introspective  and  stated  that  his  inclination  to  lie 
was  a  puzzle  to  him,  and  that  while  he  was  engaged  in 
prevarications  he  believed  in  them.  He  always  was 
the  hero  of  his  own  stories.  He  further  declared  that 
inner  unrest  and  love  of  wandering  drove  him  forth 
even  when  he  was  living  under  orderly  conditions.  He 
considered  that  his  feeling  of  restlessness  was  a  weighty 
motive  in  the  deeds  for  which  he  had  been  punished. 
At  one  time  this  man  had  simulated  attacks  of  epilepsy 
and  attempted  in  connection  with  these  to  swindle 
physicians  and  others.  His  schooling  had  been  con- 
tinued to  the  gymnasium,  "  untertertia,"  then  he  had 
taken  up  his  trade.  His  intelligence  and  memory 
were  considered  excellent.  He  had  an  insane  brother. 
Vogt 1  has  made  a  thorough  analysis  of  six  cases  of 
pathological  liars,  ranging  from  the  very  stupid  to  the 
intelligent.  I.  A  girl,  who  had  done  poorly  in  school 
was  unable  to  hold  a  place  and  became  a  thief.  Her 
mother  was  epileptic.  Examination  showed  intelli- 
gence not  equal  to  that  of  eight  years  with  moral 
inferiority  on  account  of  this  weakness.  II.  A  feeble- 
minded girl  of  vacillating,  weak  judgment.  Father 
insane.  Her  lies  were  marked  by  their  fantastic- 
nature.  III.  Lively,  fanciful,  unstable,  hysterical  girl. 
Poor  record  at  school.  IV.  Hysterical  liar  with  pecul- 
iarities united  with  splendid  mental  ability.  V.  Un- 
usually intelligent,  15  years  old,  illegitimate  child; 
normal  mother  who  later  had  five  sound  children ; 
father  drunkard.  Her  lies  were  neither  of  suggested 

1 "  Jugendliche  Ltignerinnen."    Zeitschrift  ftir  Erforschung  d.  jugend. 
Schwachsinns.,  Bd.  3.  H.  5.  1910;  p.  4C5. 


PREVIOUS  STUDIES  25 

nor  dreamy  type,  they  were  skillfully  dramatized 
means  to  an  end  in  her  fight  for  social  position.  In 
the  psychiatric  examination  she  was  found  mentally 
normal.  VI.  Girl  thoroughly  intelligent,  good  at 
figures  and  puzzles,  with  no  signs  of  degeneracy. 

Vogt  characterized  the  pathological  lie  as  active,  ] 
more  elaborately  constructed,  more  inclusive,  and  \ 
leaving  the  ground  of  reality  more  readily  than  ordinary 
lies.  Such  lies  he  does  not  always  find  egocentric. 
To  the  pathological  liar  his  own  creation  is  reality,  so 
he  walks  securely,  is  open  and  amiable.  All  these 
cases  are  gifted  with  lively  imaginations  and  inclined 
to  autosuggestion.  Vogt  calls  the  pathological  lie 
a  wish  p^ycjyffls./  This  statement  opens  the  way  to  an 
interesting  and  valuable  interpretation  of  the  psycho- 
logical significance  of  this  phenomenon  of  the  mental 
life.  He  finds  many  more  girls  than  boys  atnong  his 
cases;  boys  lie  from  need  of  defense  and  protection, 
girls  more  from  autosuggestion.  This  type  of  lie  is  of 
greater  interest  to  social  than  to  clinical  psychology. 
He  emphasizes  the  point  that  very  refined  and  com- 
plicated lies  appear  in  healthy  young  people  in  the 
stress  of  difficult  situations.  Obstinate  and  stubborn 
lying  of  itself  is  no  disease  among  children ;  examination 
must  reveal  that  the  lie  has  a  morbid  cause. 

The  resemblance  of  pathological  lying  to  poetic 
creation  was  first  suggested  by  Delbrtick  1  in  a  reference 
to  Keller's  "  Der  griine  Heinrich,"  a  German  novel 
in  which  the  lies  of  a  boy  of  seven  years,  lies  of  a  crea- 
tive type  of  the  nature  of  retroactive  hallucinations, 
are  described.  Hinrichsen2  discusses  at  length  the 

1  loc.  tit. 

2  "  Zur  Kasuistik  und  Psychologie  der  Pseudologia  phantastica."     Arch, 
fiir  Kriminal  Anthrop.  und  Kriminalistik,  1906. 


26  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

resemblance  of  pseudologia  phantastica  to  poetic  crea- 
tion in  Goethe,  Grillparzer,  Hoffman,  and  others. 

In  an  inaugural  dissertation  Anna  Stemmermann1 
presents  exhaustively  a  series  of  cases.  These  cases 
were  studied  over  a  long  period  catamnestically.  Com- 
menting upon  one  case  she  says  :  It  is  worthy  of  note 
in  this  history  that  the  patient  in  a  hypnoidal  condition, 
with  headache  and  flushed  face,  crochets  in  a  senseless 
way  and  thinks  she  is  weaving  a  wreath  for  her 
mother's  grave,  her  mother  being  still  alive.  We  often 
meet  with  actions  like  this.  Characteristic  is  the  report 
of  spontaneous,  fearful  headache,  without  the  patient's 
putting  this  in  relation  to  her  peculiar  behavior.  We 
lay  more  stress  upon  this  condition  than  has  been 
done  previously  in  the  literature.  We  believe  that 
this  symptom  is  wanting  in  no  classic  case  of  pseudo- 
logia phantastica.  Often  in  this  condition  of  narrowed 
consciousness,  the  daydreams  are  spun  and  have  sucli  a 
power  of  convincing  that  they  later  make  the  basis  for 
pathological  lies  and  swindling.  In  this  hypnoidal 
state  a  strongly  heightened  suggestibility  exists  and 
trivial  external  causes  give  daydreams  their  direction. 
The  general  trend  of  fancy  reveals  naturally  the  inclina- 
tions and  ideals  of  the  affected  individual.  Stem- 
mermann also  maintained  that  the  pathological  lie  is  a. 
wish  psychosis.  Even  outside  of  the  hypnoidal  state, 
these  cases  are  more  suggestible  than  the  general  run 
of  people. 

Of  Stemmermann's  own  cases,  ten  in  number,  only 
four  at  most  were  normally  endowed,  the  remainder 
were  either  stupid  or  slightly  imbecile.  This  agrees 
with  the  experience  of  previous  writers.  Study  of  her 

1  "  Beitrage  und  Kasuistik  der  Pseudologia  phantastica."  Geo.  Reimcr, 
Berlin,  1906,  pp.  102. 


PREVIOUS  STUDIES  27 

cases  showed  that  there  was  report  of  previous  mendac- 
ity, four  had  been  liars  from  childhood.  She  found  in 
them  the  combination  of  the  general  habit  of  lying 
underneath  the  more  accentuated  form  of  pseudologia 
phantastica.  One  case  had  perverted  sex  feeling,  one 
was  a  prostitute  at  sixteen  years. 

In  her  dissertation  some  points  for  the  differentia- 
tion of  the  pathological  lie  have  been  added  to  those 
offered  by  Delbriick,  Risch,  Koppen,  and  Vogt.  The 
pathological  liar  lies,  not  according  to  a  plan,  but  the 
impulse  seizes  him  suddenly.  This  propensity  grows 
stronger.  Under  strict  supervision  it  comes  to  only 
an  abortive  attack,  similar  to  what  happens  in  cases  of 
dipsomania,  or  of  tendency  to  rove  in  which  the  re- 
pressed outbreak  expresses  itself  in  tormenting  psychical 
and  physical  unrest.  While  the  normal  liar  and  swind- 
ler is  forced  to  be  on  his  guard  lest  he  divulge  some- 
thing of  the  actual  state  of  affairs,  and  is  therefore 
either  taciturn  or  presents  an  evil  and  watchful  appear- 
ance, or,  if  a  novice  at  his  trade,  is  hesitating  in  his 
replies,  the  pathological  liar  has  a  cheerful,  open,  free, 
enthusiastic,  charming  appearance,  because  he  believes 
in  his  stories  and  wishes  their  reality.  The  incon- 
sequential way  in  which  such  persons  go  to  work  is  to  be 
explained  by  the  fact  that  consciousness  of  the  real 
situation  is  partly  clouded  in  their  minds.  In  any 
special  act  it  is  impossible  to  say  whether  the  conscious- 
ness of  the  lie,  fancy,  or  delusion  preponderates.  In- 
ability to  remember  delinquencies  Stemmermann  re- 
gards also  as  added  proof  of  pathological  lying. 

She  speaks  of  another  class  of  prattlers,  chattering 
people  that  might  be  confounded  with  pathological  liars 
from  the  stories  they  tell  in  full  detail.  But  they  have 
no  system  ^.vhich  they  develop,  often  change  their 


28  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

subject  and  do  not  paint  in  a  lifelike  way  because  they 
do  not  believe  their  own  stories  or  live  in  them  in  a  self- 
centered  manner. 

Of  the  17  cases  Stemmermann  studied  from  the 
literature  (Delbriick,  Hinrichsen,  Jorger,  Redlich, 
Koelle,  Henneberg,  Wellenbergh)  10  were  periodic. 
Of  her  own  10  cases,  6  were  periodic.  Sex  abnormali- 
ties were  present  in  5  out  of  the  17  in  the  literature. 
Among  possible  causes  of  pathological  lying  she  places 
any  factor  which  narrows  consciousness  and  increases 
suggestion  and  weakness,  such  as  pregnancy,  over- 
exertion,  chronic  alcoholism,  monotonous  living,  long, 
close  work,  head  injuries. 

Concerning  prognosis  she  finds  little  detailed  in  the 
literature.  The  general  opinion  is  that  such  cases 
arising  from  a  background  of  degeneracy  are  incurable. 
One  of  her  cases  was  free  from  attacks  for  two  periods 
of  three  years  each,  and  had  been  blameless  in  an  honor- 
able position  as  editor  for  seven  years  at  the  time  of  the 
publication  of  her  monograph.  She  suggests  that  the 
profession  he  has  chosen  may  be  particularly  suited  to 
the  talents  of  the  pathological  liar.  She  also  ventures  to 
state  that  where  pathological  lying  is  merely  an  accom- 
paniment of  puberty  it  may  disappear. 

The  fact  that  so  many  of  the  cases  cited  by  Stemmcr- 
mann  were  clearly  abnormal  and  found  places  in  insane 
asylums  makes  much  citation  of  them  by  us,  in  turn, 
hardly  worth  while.  However,  a  short  summary  of  a 
couple  of  her  more  normal  cases  will  show  the  problems 
and  conditions  as  she  found  them.  I.  Annie  J.,  19 
years  old,  father  a  tailor,  had  been  employed  in  several 
places  as  a  servant.  Aside  from  the  fact  that  it  was 
stated  she  always  had  an  inclination  to  lie,  nothing 
more  was  known  about  her  early  life.  ShC  complained 


PREVIOUS  STUDIES  29 

of  headaches  and  fainting  attacks,  and  mourned  over 
the  death  of  her  fiance.  She  said  he  had  gone  to  Berlin 
to  learn  tailoring  and  had  died  there  of  inflammation  of 
the  lungs.  He  left  her  650  marks  which  her  mother 
got  hold  of.  On  investigation  it  was  found  that  this 
man  was  still  alive  and  never  had  been  engaged  to  her. 
She  then  accused  her  mother  of  taking  50  marks  from 
her  and  said  that  a  man,  purporting  to  be  her  real 
father,  came  from  another  town  and  told  her  she  had 
been  brought  up  by  foster  parents.  Through  the 
quarreling  which  arose  from  these  various  stories  Annie 
was  taken  before  the  police  physician  and  pronounced 
mentally  unsound.  Then  she  told  of  another  engage- 
ment with  the  brother  of  her  departed  fiance,  who  had 
discovered  her  real  mother.  The  latter  was  going  to 
leave  her  30,000  marks.  He  had  formed  a  plot  with 
the  foster  mother  to  put  Annie  out  of  the  way  and  to 
divide  the  money.  He  followed  her  on  the  street  and 
threw  a  drugged  cloth  over  her  head.  She  fainted  and 
was  carried  home.  She  said  she  brought  action  for 
attempt  to  murder.  (Whether  this  fiance  and  the  rich 
mother  were  real  persons  is  not  known.)  Later  in  the 
same  year,  Annie  being  again  at  large,  a  new  father, 
der  Graf  von  Woldau,  appeared  and  bought  her  beauti- 
ful clothes  costing  100  marks.  He  wanted  to  take  her 
away,  but  quickly  disappeared  and  was  not  seen  again. 
When  Annie  told  this  story  she  was  employed  by  a 
woman  who  attempted  to  get  traces  of  the  count,  but 
failed.  Later  this  employer  missed  a  sum  of  money 
equivalent  to  that  spent  for  the  clothes.  Annie's 
responsibility  by  this  time  was  still  more  questioned 
and  she  was  sent  to  an  insane  asylum.  There  she  was 
found  normally  oriented,  orderly,  industrious,  but 
suffered  from  periodical  headaches.  When  questioned 


30  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

in  the  asylum  concerning  her  tales  she  hesitated  and 
would  say,  "  Now  I  believe  them  and  now  I  don't." 
It  is  remarkable  in  this  case  that  her  different  employers 
believed  all  her  fabrications  and  took  the  girl's  part 
against  the  supposed  offenders.  For  a  year  she  en- 
gaged in  a  sort  of  orgy  of  pathological  lying  and  then 
this  phase  of  her  career  stopped.  After  a  few  months 
in  the  asylum  she  returned  home  and  later  married. 
The  last  report  from  her  mother  was  that  she  was 
nervous  and  easily  excited,  but  showed  no  further  signs 
of  insanity. 

II.  This  was  a  boy,  Johann  P.,  who  was  studied 
mentally  first  when  he  was  16  years  old.  A  thoroughly 
good  history  was  forthcoming.  He  was  brought  for 
examination  on  account  of  his  extreme  changeableness, 
his  failure  in  several  occupations,  his  tendencies  to 
swindling  and  his  extreme  lying.  As  a  young  child  his 
mother  had  to  correct  him  much  for  prevarications. 
Soon  after  he  was  9,  when  both  his  parents  were  already 
dead,  he  forged  a  school  certificate  and  was  felt  to  be  a 
bad  influence  in  the  home  of  his  guardian.  About  that 
time  he  also  stole  money  from  pockets  on  a  number  of 
occasions.  In  school  he  was  regarded  as  an  undesirable 
pupil  on  account  of  his  underhanded  behavior,  and  one 
teacher  who  had  observed  him  for  long  wrote  that  he 
showed  marked  inclination  towards  lying.  At  the 
time  he  was  15,  he  was  somewhat  retarded  in  school 
life,  but  was  told  he  had  to  decide  upon  an  occupation. 
After  a  stormy  period  he  announcA  he  would  become  a 
gardener.  After  doing  well  for  a  n^onth  or  so  at  his 
first  place  he  began  to  tell  compromising  stories  about 
the  wife  of  his  employer.  He  gave  himself  out  to  be 
the  son  of  a  general  who  was  going  to  raherit  a  large 
sum  of  money.  On  the  strength  of  this  he  ufanaged 


PREVIOUS  STUDIES  31 

to  get  hold  of  expensive  articles  he  desired.  A  short 
time  afterward  he  wrote  to  his  guardian  he  was  fitted 
for  higher  pursuits  than  that  of  gardening.  Soon  after- 
ward he  ran  away  to  a  large  town.  He  now  wrote  that 
the  word  freedom  sounded  like  the  sweetest  music  in 
his  ears.  He  acknowledged  that  he  had  started  on  a 
career  of  criminality,  but  decided  to  do  better.  At  this 
time  he  attempted  to  make  his  way  by  offering  his 
compositions  at  a  newspaper  office  where  they  were 
declined  either  because  his  productions  were  immature 
or  his  authorship  was  doubted.  One  editor  loaned  him 
some  money,  but  he  got  much  more  by  representing 
himself  to  be  a  collaborator  of  this  editor.  He  soon 
failed  to  make  his  way  and  attempted  other  things, 
including  entrance  into  the  merchant  marine.  He 
finally  turned  up  again  at  his  guardian's  house,  and 
when  his  box  was  opened  it  was  found  to  contain  a  very 
curious  lot  of  material  such  as  money  accounts,  business 
cards,  letter  heads,  catalogues.  It  was  at  this  time 
that  he  was  placed  for  observation  in  an  asylum  and  it 
was  soon  found  that  his  alleged  compositions  were 
plagiarized.  He  claimed  to  suffer  from  headaches. 
Outside  of  that  he  was  in  fine  physical  condition.  He 
frequently  wrote  sketches  in  proof  of  his  ability.  A 
general  statement  was  finally  made  that  he  showed 
slight  traces  of  hysteria,  was  a  sufferer  from  headaches, 
and  showed  periodic  tendencies  to  wandering  and  lying. 
No  special  defect  in  the  ethical  discriminations  was 
present.  He  had  good  insight  into  his  own  tendencies. 
He  was  finally  released  to  his  guardian,  and  Stemmer- 
mann  offered  the  prognosis  that  Johann  might  well 
develop  into  a  typical  pathological  swindler.  He 
came  of  a  family  of  five  brothers  and  sisters,  one  of 
whom  was  incarcerated  for  a  year  on  account  of  stealing. 


32  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

One  sister  was  noted  for  her  tendency  to  prevarication. 
Several  of  them  were  remarkably  unstable,  at  least 
early  in  life.  All  of  them  are  said  to  have  learned  very 
unwillingly  in  school.  One  brother  of  the  father  was 
exceedingly  nervous. 

Jorger  1  presents  a  case  of  a  boy  of  poor  parents  who 
was  from  childhood  possessed  of  the  idea  of  becoming  a 
teacher.  He  was  always  a  solitary  child,  endowed  with 
great  religious  fervor.  In  spite  of  poverty  he  obtained 
an  education,  studied  the  classics,  and  did  excellent 
work.  He  developed  early  religious  eccentricities, 
became  unsound  on  money  matters,  boasted  of  his 
father's  millions,  spent  freely  as  a  benefactor,  bought 
expensive  books.  Then  developed  an  outspoken  ten- 
dency to  swindling.  Finally  he  was  adjudged  insane 
and  committed  to  an  asylum.  Commenting  on  this 
case,  Jorger  points  out  the  marks  of  abnormality  from 
childhood,  such  as  solitariness  and  religious  intensity. 
He  was  above  normal  in  intellectual  ability,  but  lac-k- 
ing in  moral  development.  He  did  not  love  parents, 
brothers,  sisters,  or  teachers;  he  was  very  egotistical. 
Jorger  defines  this  as  a  case  of  constitutional  psychosis. 
When  older,  pseudologia  phantastica  controlled  him; 
it  was  like  hypnotic  influence,  his  dreams  of  wealth 
were  like  paranoia.  His  hypnotic  condition  grew  to 
such  an  extent  that  there  was  an  interruption  of  con- 
sciousness with  following  amnesia. 

Henneberg2  cites  another  case  of  a  highly  educated 
young  man  who  told  wonderful  stories  in  childhood  and 


1 "  Beitrage  zur  Kenntnisse  der  Pseudologia  phantastica."  Virrtol- 
jahrschrift  fiir  gerichtliche  Medicin  und  offentliches  Sanitatswesen,  1904, 
Bd.  XXVII;  pp.  189-242. 

1 "  Zur  kasuistischen  und  klin.  Beurteilung  der  Pseudologia  phantas- 
tica." Charite-Annalen,  XXV,  XXVI. 


PREVIOUS  STUDIES  33 

later  obtained  money  under  false  pretenses  with  elab- 
orate deception.  From  an  eccentric  grandmother, 
and  a  mother  who  was  very  excitable  and  suffered  from 
hysteria,  he  inherited  a  nervous  system  which  was  not 
calculated  to  bear  the  strain  which  his  own  overzealous 
efforts  in  pursuing  his  studies  and  his  spiritual  exaltation 
put  upon  it,  hence  the  mental  and  moral  breakdown. 
This  is  a  very  interesting  case  because  it  does  not  fit 
into  the  usual  group  of  pathological  liars. 

Wendt 1  enlarges  the  field  in  which  we  may  look  for 
such  cases.  He  finds  pseudologia  phantastica  a  symp- 
tom, not  only  of  hysteria,  alcoholism,  paranoia,  but 
also  of  sex  repression,  and  neurasthenia.  He  takes  a 
more  philosophical  view  of  the  subject  than  previous 
authors.  He  understands  by  pseudologia  phantastica  \ 
not  merely  the  bare  habit  of  telling  fantastic  lies,  and  j 
what  they  bring  forth,  but  rather  the  yielding  up  of 
consciousness  of  reality  in  the  presence  of  the  morbidly 
fantastic  wish  in  its  widest  consequences.  Since  the 
wish  in  order  to  exist  is  not  permitted  to  lose  entirely 
the  conscious  presentation  of  what  it  hopes  for,  so 
memory  and  recognition  of  reality  emerge  disconnected 
in  consciousness,  and  a  condition  described  as  double  , 
consciousness  arises.  In  this  state  of  mind  two  forms  V 
of  life  run  side  by  side,  the  actual  and  the  desired, 
finally  the  latter  becomes  preponderant  and  decisive. 
Such  a  psychic  make-up  must  lead  unconditionally  and 
necessarily  to  swindling  and  law  breaking.  A  degenera- 
tive alteration  furnishes  the  basis  from  which  a  wish  or 
wish-complex  arises,  increasing  in  force  until  it  becomes 
autosuggestion,  hence  it  is  pathological.  Then  follow 
the  practical  consequences,  and  we  have  developed, 

"  Ein  Beitrag  zur  Kasuistik  der  Pseudologia  phantastica."     Allgemeine 
Zeitschrift  fiir  Psychiatric,  LXVIII,  Heft  4;  pp.  482-500. 


34  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

on  the  one  side,  pathological  lying,  and,  on  the  other, 
swindling,  i.e.,  criminality.  Purely  symptomatically 
pseudologia  phantastica  is  characterized  by  the  ground- 
lessness of  the  fabrications,  the  heightened  suggestibility 
of  the  patient,  and  in  its  wake  arises  double  conscious- 
ness and  inadequate  powers  of  reproduction  of  reality. 

Wendt  gives  at  length  the  history  of  a  precocious 
boy,  the  son  of  an  official  of  medical  rank,  who  had  lived 
always  with  older  people.  He  lied  from  early  childhood. 
He  was  a  chronic  sufferer  from  severe  headaches. 
Between  the  ages  of  15  and  17  this  boy  showed  evidences 
of  literary  talent,  but  was  poor  in  mathematics.  From 
a  tender  age  he  had  an  overmastering  desire  to  become 
great;  he  said  he  wished  to  become  a  jurist  because 
only  jurists  get  the  high  offices.  He  entered  a  South 
German  university,  rented  a  fine  apartment,  stated  be 
was  accustomed  to  a  Schloss,  his  father  was  a  high  state 
official.  He  later  called  himself  Graf  Friedrich  Gers- 
dorf  auf  Blankenhain.  The  young  man's  deceits 
grew  rapidly,  he  obtained  much  money  falsely,  traveled 
first  class  with  a  body  servant.  He  passed  to  other 
universities,  was  always  quiet  and  industrious.  After 
many  adventures  he  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  law  ;md 
was  adjudged  insane.  Most  interesting  was  the  fact 
that  he  discussed  intelligently  his  career.  "  My  capac- 
ity for  considering  my  thoughts  as  something  really 
carried  out  in  life  is  unfortunately  too  great  to  permit 
my  having  full  conception  of  the  boundary  between 
appearance  and  reality." 

The  family  history  of  the  above  case  included  swin- 
dling, hysteria,  and  epilepsy.  His  fabricating  tendency 
first  reached  its  height  at  14  years,  thus  showing  the 
influence  of  puberty.  Wendt  regarded  the  etiological 
factors  as  family  degeneracy,  a  wish-complex  which  in 


PREVIOUS  STUDIES  35 

activity  amounted  to  autosuggestion,  double  conscious- 
ness, and  a  periodical  preponderance  of  the  wished  for 
personality. 

Bresler  *  in  proposing  two  reforms  in  the  German 
"  Strafgesetzbuch  "  undertook  a  discussion  of  patho- 
logical accusations,  as  material  using  cases  reported  by 
several  authors.  He  attempted  a  classification  as 
follows :  1.  Deliberately  false  accusations  based  upon 
the  pathological  disposition  or  impulse  to  lie ;  the  con- 
tent of  the  accusation  being  fabricated.  2.  False 
accusation  upon  a  basis  of  pathologically  disturbed 
perceptions  or  reasoning.  Content  of  the  accusation  is 
here  illusion,  hallucination,  or  delusion.  3.  Accusa- 
tions correct  in  content,  but  pathologically  motivated. 

The  first  group  nearly  always  is  the  action  of  hysteri- 
cals,  and  many  are  centered  on  sex  affairs.  Bresler 's 
cited  cases  of  this  class  seem  merely  to  impress  the  idea 
of  revenge,  or  of  protection  from  deserved  punishment. 
A  very  complicated  case  was  that  of  a  girl  who  had 
been  rejected  in  marriage  after  the  discovery  by  her 
lover  that  she  had  attacks  of  major  hysteria.  She 
entered  into  a  conspiracy  with  her  mother  to  destroy 
him.  She  first  maliciously  cut  grape  vines  and  accused 
him  and  his  brother  of  doing  it.  Then  she  slandered 
his  whole  family.  A  year  later,  suddenly  appearing 
wounded,  she  accused  his  uncle  of  trying  to  kill  her  and 
obtained  a  verdict  against  him.  Then  she  attempted 
the  same  with  another  uncle  who,  however,  maintained 
an  alibi.  After  this  her  role  changed,  for  her  mother 
summoned  people  to  see  her  daughter  lying  with  a 
wreath  around  her  head,  brought  by  an  angel,  with  a 
scroll  on  which  was  inscribed  "  Corona  Marty  ri." 

1<4Die  pathologische  Anschuldigung."  Juristisch-psychiatrische  Grenz- 
fragen,  Band  V,  Heft  8,  pp.  42. 


36  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

The  church  now  took  her  part  and  she  toured  the  coun- 
try as  a  sort  of  saint.  Later  she  returned  to  her  former 
tactics,  she  set  fire  to  a  house,  cut  off  a  cow's  udder,  and 
accused  her  former  lover  of  these  deeds.  Now  for  the 
first  time  it  went  badly  with  her.  She  was  finally 
imprisoned  for  life  on  account  of  attempts  to  poison 
people. 

In  Bresler's  second  group  he  places  the  false  accusa- 
tions of  alcoholics,  paranoiacs,  querulants  (whom  he 
calls  a  sub-class  of  paranoiacs)  and  sufferers  from  head 
injuries.  Besides  these,  he  here  classes  the  false  accusa- 
tions of  children. 

The  third  class  is  so  rare  that  it  receives  almost  no 
discussion. 

Longard  1  reports  an  interesting  case  of  a  chronic 
liar  and  swindler,  a  man  who  on  account  of  the  peculiari- 
ties of  his  swindling  was  placed  under  custody  for  study. 
Upon  detention  he  went  into  convulsions  and  later 
seemed  entirely  distracted.  He  was  then  21  years  old. 
Investigation  of  his  case  showed  that  his  abnormalities 
dated  from  early  life  and  were  probably  due  to  the  fact 
that  in  childhood  he  had  a  bad  fall  from  a  height. 
When  he  was  23  he  had  served  six  months  on  account  of 
swindling.  At  that  time  he  had  been  going  about  in 
the  Rhine  country  dressed  as  a  monk,  begging  things  of 
little  worth,  such  as  crucifixes,  candles,  medals,  etc. 
His  pious  behavior  and  orderliness  gave  him  a  good 
reception.  He  sometimes  took  money  or  begged  it  in 
order  to  read  masses  for  poor  souls.  In  one  village  he 
said  he  had  come  to  reconnoiter  for  a  site  to  build  a 
hospital.  Some  cloister  brothers  in  one  place  took  him 
for  a  swindler  and  decided  he  was  overwrought  reli- 

14'Ein  forensisch  interessanter  Fall.  Pseudologia  phantastica."  Allg. 
Zeitschrift  f.  Psych.  LV,  p.  88. 


PREVIOUS  STUDIES  37 

giously,  and  that  he  really  thought  he  was  what  he 
wished  to  become.  He  was  studied  at  length  in  prison 
where  he  had  one  attack  of  maniacal  behavior  and  tried 
to  hang  himself.  The  physician  there  thought  him  a 
simulator.  He  was  excused  from  his  military  service 
because  of  stomach  trouble.  At  that  time  mental 
abnormalities  were  not  noticed.  After  this  he  again 
acted  the  part  of  a  monk,  wandering  through  France 
and  Germany,  living  in  monasteries,  and  being  helped 
along  by  different  organizations,  Protestant  as  well  as 
Catholic.  He  was  arrested  in  Cologne  when  discovered 
to  be  a  fraud.  He  lay  four  days  in  jail  apparently 
unconscious  and  then  appeared  stupefied  and  staggered 
about.  When  questioned  he  responded,  "  I  am  born 
again."  He  spoke  mostly  in  Biblical  terms  and  was 
fluent  with  pious  speeches.  He  was  found  quite  sound 
physically.  He  ate  a  great  deal  and  was  known  to 
take  bread  away  from  other  prisoners  at  night.  He  was 
sentenced  for  15  months  for  swindling.  He  himself 
related  that  in  youth  he  had  seen  many  monks  and  had 
become  possessed  of  the  idea  of  being  one.  He  was  a 
sex  pervert. 

The  author  considered  this  not  a  pure  case  of  simula- 
tion ;  the  patient  was  an  abnormal  being,  none  of  his 
keepers  thought  him  normal.  His  entire  appearance, 
his  excited  way  of  speaking,  his  gestures  and  play  of 
features  were  all  striking  to  a  high  degree.  His  method 
of  going  about  begging  was  unreasonable;  he  gained 
so  little  by  it.  His  tendency  to  untruthfulness  stood 
out  everywhere.  He  imitated  the  pious  as  he  chattered 
without  aim.  The  man  had  lived  himself  into  the 
role  of  a  cloister  brother  so  completely  that  he  was  not 
clearly  conscious  of  the  deceit.  The  author  thinks  the 
case  presents  some  paranoiac  features  with  a  pathologi- 


38  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

cal  tendency  towards  lying.  Thus  this  pathological 
liar  presents  the  phenomenon  of  a  mixture  of  lies  and 
delusions. 

From  the  Zurich  clinic  of  Forel  several  cases  of 
pathological  swindling  have  been  reported  at  length.1 
It  must  be  confessed  that  the  success  of  much  of  the 
misrepresentation  cited  in  these  case  histories  seems 
to  be  as  largely  due  to  the  naivete  of  the  country  folk 
as  to  the  efforts  of  the  swindlers  themselves.  Two  of 
the  cases  were  clearly  insane  and  were  detained  for 
long  periods  in  asylums  after  their  study  in  the  clinic. 
But  even  so,  it  is  to  be  noted  that  one  of  these  when 
absenting  himself  from  institutional  care  succeeded  in 
going  on  with  his  swindling  operations.  The  third 
case  was  regarded  as  that  of  an  aberrational  individual 
with  special  tendency  towards  lying  and  swindling, 
but  the  opinion  rendered  did  not  end  in  the  man  bring 
held  as  insane.  He  was  simply  regarded  as  a  delin- 
quent, and  after  serving  his  sentence  he  went  his  old 
way.  These  cases  are  interesting  to  one  who  would 
learn  the  extent  to  which  swindling  among  a  simple 
minded  population  can  be  carried  on. 

From  French  sources  we  have  not  been  able  to  collect 
such  a  wealth  of  material  as  we  found  in  German  litera- 
ture. One  study  by  Belletrud  and  Mercier  2  compares 
favorably  in  elaborate  working  out  of  details  with  the 
work  of  German  authors.  A  Corsican  boy,  from  child- 
hood moody,  fond  of  adventure,  inclined  to  deception, 
had  attempted  suicide  several  times  before  he  was 

44  Gerichtlich-psychiatrische  Gutachten  aus  d.  Klinik  von  Prof.  Forel 
in  Ziirich;  f.  Aerzte  u.  Juristen,  herausgegeb.  von  Dr.  Th.  KoelK'."  Stutt- 
gart, Encke,  1902. 

Un  cas  de  mythomanie ;  escroquerie  et  simulation  chez  un  epileptique." 
L'Encephale,  June  1910,  p.  677. 


PREVIOUS  STUDIES  39 

twenty  years  old.  He  was  married  at  that  time  and 
went  to  France,  where  he  was  employed  in  several 
towns.  His  life  following  this  included  an  immense 
amount  of  lying  and  swindling.  He  had  a  mania  for 
buying  costly  antique  furniture  and  jewelry  which  he 
obtained  on  credit.  He  frequently  disappeared  from 
localities  where  he  was  wanted  on  criminal  charges, 
and  changed  his  name.  He  wandered  through  Italy, 
Tunis,  and  South  America.  Returning  to  France  he 
was  taken  into  custody  and  mental  troubles  were  noted. 
He  showed  delirium  of  persecution  and  was  removed  to  a 
hospital  for  the  insane.  Experts  studied  him  for  a  year 
before  they  could  decide  whether  he  was  insane  or 
merely  simulating  insanity.  Finally  they  thought  he 
was  not  simulating.  A  few  months  later  he  escaped, 
went  to  Belgium,  Italy,  Corsica.  Turning  up  at  a  town 
in  France  under  an  assumed  name,  he  was  arrested 
again  and  elaborately  examined.  At  this  time  he  had 
frequent  attacks  of  unconsciousness  and  frothing  at  the 
mouth.  At  times  he  was  melancholy.  Summarizing 
the  case,  the  authors  say  that  the  psychic  peculiarities 
of  the  patient  were  congenital,  and  included  habitual 
instability  of  character  with  defective  development  of 
the  ethical  sentiments,  and  tendency  to  deceit  and 
swindling.  Epilepsy  here  is,  of  course,  the  central 
cause  of  mental  and  moral  deterioration. 

From  a  pedagogical  point  of  view  Rouma 1  tells  of  the 
marvelous  stories  of  a  five-year-old  boy  in  the  Froebel 
school  at  Charleroi.  His  stories  were  generally  sug- 
gested by  something  told  by  the  teacher  or  other  pupils. 
He  referred  their  anecdotes  to  himself  or  other  members 
of  his  family  and  greatly  enlarged  upon  them.  He  also 
made  elaborate  childish  drawings  and  gave  long  ac- 

1 "  Un  cas  de  mythomanie."     Arch,  de  Psych.  1908,  pp.  259-2812.  . 


40  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

counts  of  what  they  meant.  Going  into  the  question  of 
heredity  Rouma  found  this  boy's  mother  very  nervous ; 
the  father  was  a  good  man.  She  had  worked  steadily 
at  the  machine  before  his  birth.  Two  of  their  children 
died  with  convulsions ;  of  the  two  living,  one  was  well 
behaved,  but  weakly.  Rouma's  case  had  stigmata  of 
degeneracy  in  ears,  palate,  and  jaw.  Tested  by  the 
Binet  system,  he  did  three  out  of  five  of  the  tests  for 
five  years  satisfactorily.  He  was  easily  fatigued, 
refused  at  times  to  respond,  said  he  had  been  forbidden 
to  reply,  said  he  would  be  whipped  if  he  did.  In 
school  he  was  always  poor  at  manual  work,  wanted  to 
be  moving  about,  to  go  out  of  classes  on  errands,  was 
always  calling  notice  to  himself  in  a  good  or  bad  way. 
He  paid  very  little  attention  to  his  lessons,  played  alone 
or  with  younger  children,  leading  them  often  into 
mischief.  It  was  found  that  he  got  much  of  his  material 
for  stories  from  his  older  brother  who  told  him  of  robbers 
and  accidents.  From  his  good  father  he  got  the  form 
of  his  tales,  because  the  father  was  wont  to  tell  him 
stories  with  a  moral. 

In  summary,  Rouma  stated  that  this  child  pos- 
sessed senses  acute  beyond  the  average,  and  was 
of  very  unstable  temperament,  refusing  regular 
work,  not  submitting  to  rules,  rebelling  at  abstrac- 
tions. There  were  evidences  of  degeneracy  on  the 
mother's  side. 

Remedies  in  education  for  such  children  are :  Sup- 
press food  for  imagination,  such  as  came  from  the  stories 
of  father  and  brother.  Direct  perceptions  to  accurate 
work.  Systematize  education  of  attention,  exercise  the 
senses,  use  manual  work,  such  as  modeling  and  garden- 
ing. Give  lessons  in  observation  in  the  class  room  and 
on  promenades. 


PREVIOUS  STUDIES  41 

Meunier  l  tells  of  three  girls  in  a  well  known  Parisian 
school  who  indulged  in  wonderful  tales.  The  first,  in 
the  intermediate  grade,  told  stories  of  the  illness  of  her 
father  to  account  for  her  not  having  her  lessons.  The 
second,  11  years  old,  said  that  her  mother  was  dying; 
she  came  bringing  this  news  to  the  teachers  at  two 
different  periods  of  her  school  life.  She  was  a  calm, 
thoughtful,  analytical  child  with  no  reason  for  lying. 
Family  history  negative.  The  third,  13  years  old, 
told  of  an  imaginary  uncle  who  was  going  to  collect 
funds  for  needy  children;  she  kept  up  the  deceit  for 
two  months.  She  was  an  anemic,  nervous,  hysterical 
child  with  a  nervous  mother.  Meunier  calls  these  cases 
of  systematized  deliriums.  The  development  of  such 
delirium  annihilates,  so  to  speak,  the  entire  personality 
of  the  subject,  and  his  entire  mental  life  is  invaded  by 
abnormal  extra  and  introspection  —  the  delirium  com- 
mands and  systematizes  all  acquired  impressions. 
There  is  a  veritable  splitting  of  the  personality  in  which 
the  new  "  ego  "  is  developed  at  the  expense  of  the  nor- 
mal "  ego  "  that  now  only  appears  at  intervals. 

1 "  Remarks  on  Three  Cases  of  Morbid  Lying."  Journal  of  Mental 
Pathology,  1904,  pp.  140-142. 


CHAPTER  III 

CASES  OF  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING  AND 
SWINDLING 

IN  the  group  of  twelve  cases  making  up  this  chapter 
we  have  limited  ourselves  to  a  simple  type  in  order  to 
demonstrate  most  clearly  the  classical  characteristics 
of  pathological  liars.  How  pathological  lying  vc 
into  swindling  may  be  readily  seen  in  several  of  the 
following  cases,  e.g..  Cases  3,  8,  10,  12,  although  only 
two,  Cases  3  and  12,  have  had  time  as  yet  to  show 
marked  development  of  the  swindling  tendency.  For 
the  purpose  of  aiding  in  the  demonstration  of  the  evolu- 
tion of  lying  into  swindling,  and  also  to  bring  out  the 
fact  that  facility  in  language  may  be  the  determining 
influence  towards  pathological  lying  and  swindling, 
we  have  included  Case  12,  which  otherwise  possibly 
might  be  considered  under  our  head  of  border-line 
mental  types. 

In  any  attempt  to  distinguish  between  pathological 
accusers  and  liars,  cases  overlapping  into  both  groups 
are  found  —  so  some  of  the  material  in  this  c-haplrr 
may  be  fairly  considered  as  belonging  partially  to  the 
next  chapter. 

In  discussing  the  possibility  of  betterment,  a  fact 
which  we  as  well  as  others  have  observed,  consideration 
of  Cases  1,  4,  and  7  is  suggested. 

42 


PATHOLOGICAL  LYING  AND  SWINDLING    43 

CASE  1 

Summary:  A  girl  of  16  applied  for  help,  telling  an  elaborate 
tale  of  family  tragedy  which  proved  to  be  totally  untrue.  It  was 
so  well  done  that  it  deceived  the  most  experienced.  Shrewd 
detective  work  cleared  the  mystery.  It  was  found  that  the  girl 
was  a  chronic  falsifier  and  had  immediately  preceding  this  epi- 
sode become  delinquent  in  other  ways.  Given  firm  treatment 
in  an  institution  and  later  by  her  family,  who  knew  well  her 
peculiarities,  this  girl  in  the  course  of  four  years  apparently  has 
lost  her  previous  extreme  tendency  to  falsification. 

Hazel  M.  at  16  years  of  age  created  a  mild  sensation  by  a 
story  of  woe  which  brought  immediate  offers  of  aid  for  the 
alleged  distress.  One  morning  she  appeared  at  a  social 
center  and  stated  she  had  come  from  a  hospital  where  her 
brother,  a  young  army  man,  had  just  died.  She  gave  a 
remarkably  correct,  detailed,  medical  account  of  his  suffering 
and  death.  In  response  to  inquiry  she  told  of  a  year's  train- 
ing as  a  nurse ;  that  was  how  she  knew  about  such  subjects. 
In  company  with  a  social  worker  she  went  directly  back  to 
the  hospital  to  make  arrangements  for  what  she  requested, 
namely,  a  proper  burial.  At  the  hospital  office  it  was  said 
that  no  such  person  had  died  there,  and  after  she  had  for  a 
time  insisted  on  it  she  finally  said  she  must  have  been 
dreaming.  Although  she  had  wept  on  the  shoulder  of  a 
listener  as  she  first  told  her  story,  she  now  gave  it  up  with- 
out any  show  of  emotion.  We  were  asked  to  study  the 
case. 

Hazel  sketched  to  us  a  well-balanced  story  of  her  family 
life;  one  which  it  was  impossible  to  break  down.  It  in- 
volved experiences  at  army  posts  —  she  stated  her  only  rela- 
tives were  brothers  in  the  army  —  and  her  recent  work  as 
a  "  practical  nurse."  She  finally  led  on  to  the  death  of  her 
brother,  as  in  the  tale  previously  told.  When  asked  how  she 
accounted  for  the  fact  that  no  such  person  was  found  in  the 


44  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

hospital,  she  answered,  "  Well,  I  either  must  have  been  crazy 
or  something  is  the  matter,  and  I  don't  think  my  mind  is 
that  bad."  The  girl  evidently  was  suffering  from  loss  of 
sleep;  her  case  was  not  further  investigated  until  after  a 
long  rest. 

The  next  day  Hazel  started  in  by  saying,  "  It's  enough  to 
convince  anybody  that  I  was  not  in  the  hospital  when  Mrs. 
B.  and  I  went  there  and  found  out  that  they  said  I  had  not 
been  there.  Truthfully  I  don't  know  where  I  was.  If  I 
was  not  there  I  must  have  been  some  place  or  I  must  have 
been  in  a  trance."  The  long  stories  told  in  the  next  few  days 
need  not  be  gone  into.  They  contained  descriptions  of  life 
with  her  family  in  several  towns  when  she  was  a  child,  of  her 
graduation  from  the  high  school  in  Des  Moines,  and  of  her 
experience  as  a  nurse  in  Cincinnati  and  Chicago.  Our  cross- 
examination  disclosed  that  she  knew  a  good  many  facts  about 
obstetrics,  in  which  she  said  she  had  had  training,  and  about 
the  cities  where  she  said  she  had  lived.  For  instance,  she 
gave  a  description  of  the  Cliff  House  at  San  Francisco,  the 
seals  on  the  rocks  there,  the  high  school  in  Des  Moines,  and  so 
on.  She  also  knew  about  life  at  army  posts.  The  point  that 
made  us  skeptical  was  when  in  mentioning  the  names  of  rail- 
roads she  placed  the  wrong  towns  upon  them.  For  instance, 
she  told  us  her  brother  worked  on  the  L.  S.  &  M.  S.  at 
Kenosha. 

Hazel's  stories  were  successfully  maintained  for  several 
days  until  a  shrewd  detective,  who  got  her  to  tell  some  street 
numbers  in  Chicago,  ferreted  out  her  family.  She  had  per- 
sistently denied  the  existence  of  any  of  them  in  Chicago,  and, 
indeed,  stated  that  her  father  and  mother  had  died  years 
previously.  One  of  the  most  convincing  things  about  her  wn  s 
her  poise;  she  displayed  an  attitude  of  sincerity  combined 
with  a  show  of  deep  surprise  when  her  word  was  questioned. 
For  example,  the  moment  before  her  mother  was  brought  in 


PATHOLOGICAL  LYING  AND  SWINDLING    45 

to  see  her,  she  was  asked  what  she  would  say  if  anyone 
asserted  that  her  mother  was  in  the  next  room.  Her  in- 
stantaneous, emphatic  response  was,  "  She  would  have  to 
rise  out  of  her  grave  to  be  there." 

We  soon  learned  that  not  a  single  detail  the  girl  had  given 
about  her  family  was  true.  She  was  born  and  brought  up  in 
Chicago  and  had  never  been  outside  of  the  city.  She  had 
never  studied  nursing  nor  had  she  ever  nursed  anybody. 
In  public  school  she  had  reached  eighth  grade. 

Hazel  came  of  an  intelligent  family  and  we  were  able  to 
get  a  good  account  of  the  family  and  developmental  history. 
Heredity  seems  completely  negative  as  far  as  any  nervous 
or  mental  abnormalities  are  concerned.  She  is  one  of  seven 
children,  four  of  whom  are  living,  three  having  died  in  infancy. 
The  father  had  just  recently  died  of  tuberculosis.  There 
has  been  no  trouble  with  the  other  children  of  any  significance 
for  us.  Pregnancy  with  Hazel  was  healthy,  but  the  mother 
suffered  a  considerable  shock  when  she  stood  on  a  passenger 
boat  by  the  side  of  a  man  who  jumped  overboard  and  com- 
mitted suicide.  The  birth  was  difficult.  The  child  weighed 
12  Ibs.  Instruments  were  used ;  it  was  a  breech  presentation.  ** 
At  2  years  of  age  Hazel  was  very  ill  with  gastritis  and  what 
was  said  to  be  spinal  meningitis.  She  had  some  convulsions 
then.  Had  both  walked  and  talked  when  she  was  about  16 
months  of  age.  During  childhood  she  had  a  severe  strabis-  v" 
mus  and  at  8  years  of  age  was  operated  upon  for  it.  Vision 
has  always  been  practically  nil  in  one  eye.  Several  diseases 
of  childhood  she  had  in  mild  form.  After  she  was  2  years 
of  age  she  had  no  more  convulsions,  or  spasms,  or  attacks 
of  any  kind.  From  the  standpoint  of  general  nervousness 
Hazel  was  said  to  be  one  of  the  calmest  in  the  family,  al- 
though she  was  accustomed  to  drink  five  or  six  cups  of  coffee 
a  day.  Menstruation  at  13  years,  no  irregularity. 

On  examination  we  found  a  very  well  nourished  and  well 


46  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

developed  young  woman  of  slouchy  attitude  and  normal  ex- 
pression. Vision  very  defective  in  one  eye  and  JJ,  even  with 
glasses,  in  the  other.  Slight  strabismus.  General  strength 
good.  Examination  otherwise  negative  except  for  the  fact 
that  she  had  been  infected  with  the  diplococcus  of  Neisser. 

Mental  tests  proved  her  to  have  quite  normal  ability. 
Neither  special  ability  nor  disabilities  of  significance  were 
discovered.  For  present  discussion  it  is  of  interest  to  note 
that  in  the  "Aussage"  Test  she  gave  a  functional  account, 
enumerating  16  items,  2  of  which  were  incorrect,  and  accepted 
none  of  the  suggestions  which  were  offered. 
.  The  mother  and  sister  brought  out  the  facts  that  Hazel 
had  been  giving  an  assumed  name  recently  and  lying  about 
her  age.  She  had  alleged  that  she  was  married.  In  the 
last  year  she  had  run  away  from  home  on  several  occasions. 
At  one  time  had  written  to  her  mother  about  her  happy 
married  life.  One  letter  reads,  "  Dearest  Mother :  —  I  can 
picture  your  dear  face  when  you  receive  my  letter.  I  know 
you  have  your  doubts  about  the  matter,  the  same  as  I  had 
the  first  few  days.  But  mama,  you  know  I  love  him  and 
I  have  the  satisfaction  of  being  a  married  woman  before 
Annie  is."  In  the  letter  she  describes  the  appearance  of 
her  imaginary  husband,  tells  about  her  new  dress  and  <Joves 
and  "the  prettiest  little  wedding  ring  that  was  ever  made." 
In  another  letter  she  says,  "It  is  just  one  o'clock  A.M.  and 
Jack  has  just  gone  to  sleep  and  so  I  stole  a  little  time  to  write," 
etc.  (It  was  later  shown  by  the  stationery  used,  and  hy 
the  girl's  final  confession,  that  these  letters  were  written 
in  the  rest  room  of  a  department  store.) 

Hazel's  lying  began,  it  seems,  when  she  was  a  little  girl. 
She  would  come  home  from  school  and  out  of  whole  cloth 
relate  incidents  which  occurred  on  the  way  home.  One  of 
her  earliest  efforts  was  about  being  chased  by  a  white  horse. 
The  mother  states  that  for  years  she  has  had  to  check  Hazel 


PATHOLOGICAL  LYING  AND  SWINDLING    47 

because  she  recognized  her  remarkable  tendencies  in  this 
direction.  The  father's  death  was  somewhat  of  a  shock  and 
it  seems  that  after  this  the  girl's  other  delinquencies  began. 
Prior  to  the  time  she  first  went  away  from  home  she  had 
some  sort  of  hysterical  spells  when  she  said  she  could  see  her 
father  lying  in  his  coffin  before  her  in  the  room.  Her  be- 
havior became  quite  outrageous  with  some  young  man  in 
her  own  household  at  just  about  this  time.  Not  that  she 
was  immoral,  although  she  once  suddenly  blurted  out  in 
the  parlor  a  grave  self-accusation:  "Now,  John,  mother 
thinks  you  must  be  careful.  You  know  I  am  a  prostitute." 
When  we  first  saw  her  she  had  been  away  from  home  four 
times,  on  this  last  occasion  for  three  weeks.  Before  she 
went  she  had  said  she  wanted  to  kill  herself.  Mother  had 
notified  the  police  but  no  trace  of  her  was  found. 

From  Hazel's  own  story  told  at  this  time  and  even  after 
she  became  more  stable  it  seems  very  likely  that  her  bad 
tendencies  began  with  her  acquaintance  with  a  certain 
rather  notorious  woman.  Her  mother  came  to  believe 
that  this  was  undoubtedly  the  fact.  Our  inquiry  into  begin- 
nings brought  to  light  the  fact  that  Hazel  while  a  school 
girl  for  long  associated  with  this  woman  who  taught  her 
about  sex  immoralities.  "I  don't  believe  my  mother  knows 
what  this  Mrs.  R.  did  to  me  or  she  would  have  her  arrested. 
She  started  me  on  all  this.  When  I  was  about  11  years  old 
I  first  knew  of  those  things.  The  first  I  ever  heard  was 
from  that  woman's  daughter.-  I  never  said  anything  to 
my  mother.  I  was  always  ashamed  of  myself  to  say  any- 
thing about  it.  After  I  got  to  working  with  factory  girls 
I  heard  a  lot  about  it."  The  mother  told  us  later  that  she 
thought  it  probable  from  what  she  now  knew  that  this  Mrs.  R. 
may  have  been  largely  responsible  for  Hazel's  tendency  to 
delinquency.  Hazel  kept  this  association  of  several  years' 
standing  quite  to  herself.  The  mother  remembers  now  how 


48  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

Hazel  once  stayed  for  hours  after  school  and  told  a  story  in 
explanation  that  they  felt  sure  was  untrue.  The  teachers 
used  to  tell  the  mother  that  Hazel  seemed  as  if  she  couldn't 
pay  attention  to  her  school  work.  One  teacher  reported 
to  us  that  she  remembers  Hazel  as  a  girl  who  seemed  peculiar 
and  hysterical.  The  other  girls  called  her  queer  and  used 
to  steer  clear  of  her. 

The  mother  reports  Hazel  as  being  for  several  years 
impulsive,  erratic,  talkative,  untidy,  and  rather  dishonest 
in  other  small  ways  besides  lying  —  all  this  in  spite  of  vigor- 
ous home  discipline.  The  girl  at  one  time  under  the  influ- 
ence of  revival  meetings  left  the  religious  faith  of  her  parents. 
However,  they  thought  if  any  form  of  religion  would  make 
her  better  it  would  be  all  right. 

At  our  last  interview  with  Hazel  before  she  was  sent  away, 
an  interview  which  she  prefaced  by  saying,  "  I  want  to  apolo- 
gize for  everything  I  did,'*  the  girl  showed  herself  unablo  to 
avoid  prevarications.  Coming  back,  for  instance,  to  the 
subject  of  her  schooling  she  tells  us  how  she  won  a  graduating 
medal.  This  her  mother  said  was  untrue. 

About  her  own  lying  tendencies  she  confessed  that  some- 
times she  hardly  knew  whether  things  were  really  so  or 
not.  Asked  about  her  knowledge  of  other  cities;  "I  read 
a  whole  lot  and  learn  things  in  that  way.  I  used  to  have  to 
write  compositions  and  imagine  we  were  going  places.  I 
was  pretty  good  at  that."  One  felt  very  uncertain  about 
Hazel's  mental  condition  when  in  almost  the  same  breath 
she  denied  having  said  anything  about  the  seals  on  the  rocks 
at  San  Francisco,  or  about  obstetrical  cases,  but,  of  course, 
the  denial  may  have  been  itself  another  falsifi cation.  Her 
knowledge  of  army  affairs  was  gained  through  her  acquaint- 
ance with  young  soldiers.  An  unusual  amount  of  what  she 
heard  or  read  was  photographed  with  the  greatest  clearness 
in  her  mind  and  was  recalled  most  vividly. 


PATHOLOGICAL  LYING  AND  SWINDLING    49 

A  peculiarity  of  Hazel's  case  which  was  quite  obvious  was 
her  lack  of  apperception  concerning  her  own  interests.  Her 
lies  all  along,  after  her  identity  was  discovered,  were  so 
easy  to  trace,  and  they  so  quickly  rebounded  upon  her,  that 
there  seemed  every  reason  for  her  to  desist.  Nothing  so 
clearly  proved  the  absence  of  self-realization  as  her  feeling 
under  detention  that  other  girls  with  whom  she  was  in  forced 
association  were  much  beneath  her  in  quality,  although 
many  of  them  were  not  nearly  so  untidy  and  had  not  been 
nearly  so  immoral.  During  all  this  period  of  several  months, 
beginning  with  her  running  away  and  her  writing  the  house- 
wifely letters  about  her  imaginary  married  life,  and  ending 
with  her  appeal  for  aid  at  the  social  center,  Hazel  was  indulg- 
ing in  veritable  orgies  of  lying.  When  away  from  home  she 
several  times  picked  up  men  on  the  street  and  stayed  at 
hotels  with  them. 

At  the  time  of  our  first  studies  of  this  case  we  hardly  dared 
to  offer  either  a  mental  or  moral  prognosis. 

In  the  institution  for  delinquent  young  women  to  which 
she  was  sent  Hazel's  traits  were  long  maintained.  She 
proved  very  troublesome  on  account  of  lies  to  her  family, 
to  the  officers,  and  to  the  other  girls.  The  latter  soon  dis- 
covered, however,  the  peculiar  lack  of  foundation  for  her 
stories.  In  the  institution  was  also  noted  the  tendency  to 
untidiness  of  which  her  mother  spoke.  The  authorities 
steadily  persevered  with  Hazel.  They  secured  another 
operation  on  her  eye,  which  successfully  straightened  it,  and 
she  became  fully  "  cured  "  of  her  pelvic  disease.  She  received 
instruction  in  a  form  of  handicraft  in  which  she  quickly 
showed  special  dexterity  and  skill.  Her  tendencies  to  falsify 
gradually  became  less.  About  two  years  later  the  mother 
again  assumed  control  with  great  success. 

This  is  the  remarkable  interest  of  Hazel's  case,  to  wit, 
that  with  proper  discipline  and  the  development  of  new 


50  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

interests  her  fabricating  tendencies  have  been  reduced  to  a 
minimum.  She  has  made  a  wonderful  improvement  and 
has  long  been  a  self-supporting  and  self-respecting  young 
woman  with  her  own  relation  to  the  world  realized  in  a 
way  that  before  seemed  entirely  lacking. 


Mental  conflict:  About  early  secret  Case  1. 

experiences.  Girl,  age  16  yrs. 

Mental  conditions :  Either  mild  psychosis 

or  extreme  adolescent 
instability. 

Bad  companions :  Early. 
Delinquencies :  Mentality : 

Extreme  lying.  Normal  ability. 

Running  away.  Psychosis  (  ?) . 

Sex. 


CASE  2 

Summary:  A  girl  of  19,  under  partial  observation  for  three 
years,  was  during  all  this  time  a  great  mystery.  Brought  at  first 
to  us  by  her  family  as  being  insane  because  she  was  such  a  great 
liar  and  unreliable  in  other  ways,  we  never  could  find  tjie  slight- 
est evidence  of  aberration.  No  satisfactory  explanation  was 
forthcoming  until  the  remarkable  denouement  when  we  learned 
that  the  mother,  whom  we  had  come  to  know  herself  as  an  ex- 
treme falsifier,  was  not  the  mother  at  all.  It  seems  clear  that 
the  girl's  behavior  was  largely  the  result  of  mental  conflict 
about  certain  suspected  facts,  and  psychic  contagion  arising 
from  the  world  of  lies  in  which  she  had  lived. 

Beula  D.  has  been  known  in  several  cities  and  in  more 
than  one  court  as  the  "mystery  girl.'*  She  has  appeared 
on  the  scene  in  various  places,  giving  a  fictitious  name  and 
telling  elaborate  stories  of  herself  which  always  proved  In 
be  without  foundation. »  She  ran  away  from  homo  on  several 


PATHOLOGICAL  LYING  AND  SWINDLING    51 

occasions,  but  except  in  one  instance  which  we  know  about, 
has  never  been  seriously  delinquent.  We  saw  her  on  many 
occasions  and  tried  to  get  at  the  truth  of  her  stories  of  ill 
treatment  and  the  like.  Investigators  found  there  was 
unquestionably  some  truth  in  her  statements,  but  never 
from  first  to  last  in  the  many  interviews  which  we  had  with 
her  was  there  ever  any  possibility  of  separating  truth  from 
falsehood.  The  girl  simply  did  not  seem  to  know  the  dif- 
ference between  the  two.  What  was  more,  we  found  that 
the  mother  presented  the  same  characteristics.  She  also, 
by  her  most  curious  and  complicated  fabrications,  led  even 
her  most  rational  sympathizers  into  a  bewildering  maze. 
A  woman  of  magnificent  presence,  tremendous  will,  and 
good  intelligence,  she  nevertheless  was  soon  found  to  be 
absolutely  unreliable  in  her  statements.  This  woman's 
numerous  inventions,  so  far  as  we  have  been  able  to  ascer- 
tain, have  been  quite  beside  the  mark  of  any  possible  advan- 
tage to  be  gained  by  her  or  her  family.  Naturally  we  here 
thought  heredity  played  an  important  r6le,  until  our  final 
discovery  that  the  two  were  not  related.  The  details  which 
we  know  about  this  case  would  cover  scores  of  pages.  In 
summary  it  stands  as  follows : 

On  the  physical  side  Beula  at  17  was  a  striking  looking 
young  woman,  but  of  very  poor  development.  She  was 
only  4  ft.  7  in.  in  height  and  weighed  102  Ibs.  Expression 
was  quiet,  pleasant,  and  responsive.  Unusually  clear  and 
pleasant  voice.  Typical  Hutchinsonian  teeth.  All  other 
examination  negative.  Menstruation  first  at  13£,  normal 
and  regular. 

Notwithstanding  the  mother's  report  of  her  being  sub- 
normal mentally,  we  found  that  she  had  fair  ability.  Her 
range  of  information  was  good.  She  was  always  desirous 
of  writing  compositions,  she  wanted  to  be  a  story  writer, 
she  said,  but  her  diction  was  very  immature  and  her  spelling 


\ 


52  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

was  poor,  making  altogether  a  very  mild  production.  Never 
did  we  see  any  essential  incoherency  in  her  mental  processes, 
or  any  other  signs  of  aberration.  A  series  of  association 
tests  given  in  an  endeavor  to  discover  some  of  the  facts 
which  her  mother  maintained  she  herself  was  desirous  of 
knowing  (but  really  could  not  have  been),  failed  to  elicit 
anything  but  the  most  normal  reactions,  even  to  ideas  about 
which  we  considered  there  must  be  some  feeling-tone. 

On  the  "Aussage"  Test  only  ten  items  were  given  from 
the  picture  upon  free  recital.  On  questioning  twelve  more 
details  were  reported  correctly,  but  no  less  than  seven  of 
these  alleged  facts  were  incorrect.  Only  one  out  of  the  five 
suggestions  offered  was  accepted. 

No  purpose  would  be  served  in  recounting  the  details  of 
falsehood  which  were  told  by  this  girl  about  family  affairs, 
about  the  places  she  had  worked,  about  the  facts  of  home 
treatment,  etc.  Her  lying  was  not  done  cleverly,  Hut  it 
served  to  create  much  confusion  and  gave  considerable  trouble 
to  a  number  of  social  agencies  that  came  in  contact  with 
the  family.  Even  when  she  was  applying  directly  for  help  her 
lies  stood  greatly  in  the  way  of  achieving  anything  for  her. 
The  confusion  was  vastly  added  to  by  the  many  vagaries  of 
her  alleged  parent,  but,  even  so,  one  of  the  chief  accusations 
of  the  prevaricating  mother  was  that  the  girl  herself  \ 
terrible  liar.  The  whole  situation  was  rendered  completely 
absurd  and  needless  by  the  behavior  of  both  the  woman 
and  the  girl. 

After  we  had  known  this  case  for  about  three  years  and 
the  truth  about  Beula's  antecedents  had  come  to  light  as 
the  result  of  a  new  person  stepping  in  on  the  scene,  the  girl's 
tendency  to  falsification  seemed  quite  inexplicable.  No  one 
who  came  to  know  the  circumstances,  even  as  we  previously 
had  been  acquainted  with  them,  felt  they  could  blame 
Beula  much  for  her  attitude  of  dissatisfaction  and  her  ten- 


PATHOLOGICAL  LYING  AND  SWINDLING    53 

dencies  to  run  away.  We  felt,  too,  that  the  mystery  which 
had  always  hovered  about  this  girl  was  sufficient  to  have 
led  her  to  be  fanciful  and  imaginative  and  that  the  fabrica- 
tions of  the  self-styled  "mother"  did  not  form  an  atmosphere 
in  which  the  girl  could  well  achieve  respect  for  truth.  But 
Beula's  almost  confusional  state  concerning  the  facts  of 
her  family  life  seemed  quite  explicable  in  the  light  of  what 
we  at  last  ascertained.  Soon  after  we  first  saw  the  girl  the 
woman  had  told  us  a  most  remarkable  tale  of  how  it  was  she 
happened  to  be  the  mother  of  the  child,  and  the  attempt 
was  then  made  by  several  to  straighten  out  the  apparerc 
doubt  in  the  girl's  mind.  But  it  seems  that  the  clever  and 
tragic  tale  of  the  mother,  although  well  calculated  to  do  so, 
did  not  entirely  cover  the  points  remembered  by  this  girl 
of  her  earliest  childhood.  Evidently  for  a  time  Beula  tried 
to  correlate  the  two,  but  doubt  grew  apace.  It  seemed  almost 
as  if  her  doubt  as  to  who  she  was  led  her  to  say  first  one  thing 
and  then  another.  It  was  particularly  at  a  period  of  stress 
of  this  kind  that  she  was  figuring  in  other  cities  as  the  "  mys- 
tery girl." 

The  earlier  facts  of  the  case  probably  never  will  be  known. 
Of  the  many  details  known  by  us  it  is  sufficient  to  say  that 
the  woman  adopted  Beula  as  a  young  child  and  proceeded 
by  devious  methods  to  weave  a  network  of  lies  about  the 
situation  of  their  relationship.  Who  Beula's  parents  really 
were  neither  she  nor  any  one  else  of  whom  we  have  heard, 
ever  knew. 

Beula  showed  such  delinquent  tendencies  after  a  time 
that  she  had  to  be  sent  to  a  corrective  institution.  After 
coming  out  she  made  off  in  the  world  for  herself  before  we 
could  give  her  the  information  soon  afterwards  obtained 
by  us.  At  her  last  visit  we  felt  that  her  report  in  a  terribly 
tragic  mood  on  the  family  conditions  was  totally  unreliable. 
She  went  forth  to  weave,  no  doubt,  new  fabrications. 


54  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 


Early  experiences :  Peculiar  treatment  Case  2. 

and  excessive  misrepresen-  Girl,  age  19  years, 

tations  in  home  circle. 

Mental  influences:  Contagion  from  long 
continued  untruthfulness  at  home. 
Mystery  of  antecedents. 
Mental  conflict  about  the  above. 

Heredity  and  developmental  conditions  ( ?) 
Hutchinsonian  teeth  only  clew. 

Delinquencies :  Mentality : 

Lying.  Fair  .ability   with 

Running  away.  <  poor  educational 

Sex.  ad  van  t;i 


CASE  3 

Summary:  In  its  wonderfully  clear  presentation  of  charac- 
teristics this  case  classically  represents  the  type.  A  woman  of 
27  years  (usually  claiming  to  be  17),  during  a  career  of  7  or  8 
years  has  engaged  in  an  excessive  amount  of  misrepresentation, 
often  to  the  extent  of  swindling.  Alleging  herself  to  be  merely  a 
girl  and  without  a  family,  she  has  repeatedly  gained  protection, 
sometimes  for  a  year  or  more,  in  homes  where  her  prevaricating 
tendencies,  appearing  with  ever  new  details,  have  sooner  or  later 
thwarted  her  own  interests.  By  extraordinary  methods  she  has 
often  simulated  illnesses  which  have  demanded  hospital  treat- 
ment. For  long  she  was  lost  to  her  family,  traveling  about  under 
different  names,  making  her  way  by  her  remarkable  abilities  and 
unusual  presence. 

This  case  illustrates,  again,  two  points  we  have  often 
made,  namely,  that  the  difficulty  of  getting  safe  data  con- 
cerning genetics  increases  rapidly  with  age,  and  that  the 
chance  of  altering  tendencies  after  years  of  character  for- 
mation vastly  diminishes.  These  features  appear  strongly 
here,  yet  our  long  knowledge  of  the  person  and  of  the  many 
details  of  her  career  gives  the  history  great  interest. 

A  young  woman,  whom  we  will  call  Inez  B.,  a  name  she 


PATHOLOGICAL  LYING  AND  SWINDLING    55 

once  assumed  for  a  time,  arrived  at  a  girls'  boarding  home 
in  Chicago  with  merely  a  small  traveling  bag  and  money 
sufficient  only  for  a  few  days.  In  appearance  and  conversa- 
tion she  gave  distinct  evidences  of  refinement.  She  showed 
indecision  and  confessed  she  knew  no  one  in  the  city. 

Just  at  this  time  a  wealthy  eastern  girl,  Agnes  W.,  was 
missing  from  her  home,  and  the  police  everywhere  were  on 
the  lookout  for  her.  A  detective  who  was  ordered  to  visit 
the  boarding  club  showed  a  picture  of  Agnes  W.  to  the 
matron,  who  instantly  discerned  a  likeness  to  Inez  and  in- 
formed him  of  her  recent  arrival.  Inez  was  questioned, 
but  could  or  would  give  no  satisfactory  response  concerning 
her  own  home.  She  maintained  she  was  just  17  and  had 
come  to  Chicago  to  make  her  own  way  in  the  world.  After 
some  account  of  herself,  the  details  of  which  were  somewhat 
contradictory,  it  was  inferred  that  she  might  be  Agnes  W. 
She  vehemently  denied  it,  but  being  the  same  age  and  some 
likeness  being  discerned,  the  questioning  was  continued. 
Various  matters  of  Agnes  W.'s  antecedents  were  gone  into 
and  after  a  time  Inez  burst  out  with,  "Well,  if  you  must 
have  it  so,  I  am  Agnes  W."  The  girl  was  thereupon  taken 
in  charge  by  the  police  authorities,  and  she  herself  registered 
several  times  as  Agnes  W.  After  the  family  of  the  latter 
had  been  communicated  with,  however,  it  was  ascertained 
that  Inez  was  not  the  lost  heiress. 

She  now  said  that  anyhow  she  really  was  a  runaway  girl. 
She  had  left  her  adopted  parents  because  they  were  cruel 
arid  immoral.  It  was  her  unhappy  brooding  over  her  own 
affairs  that  led  her  to  lie  about  being  the  other  girl.  She 
insisted  she  was  sorry  for  the  many  lies  she  had  told  various 
officers,  but  felt,  after  all,  they  were  to  blame  because  their 
obvious  desire  to  have  her  tell  that  she  was  Agnes  W.  led 
her  on.  They  deceived  her  first  because  they  misrepre- 
sented themselves  and  did  not  say  they  were  police  officials. 


56  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

Nevertheless,  she  makes  much  of  how  she  hates  her  false 
position,  being  registered  under  a  false  name  and  figuring 
as  a  deceiver. 

The  significant  points  in  the  long  story  of  Inez,  as  told 
to  us  in  the  days  of  our  first  acquaintance  with  her,  are 
worth  giving.  (At  this  period  she  was  with  us  thoroughly 
consistent;  at  all  times  she  has  appeared  self-possessed 
and  coherent.)  Inez  states  she  is  17  and  has  just  come  from 
a  town  in  Tennessee  where  she  has  been  living  for  a  couple 
of  years  with  some  people  by  the  name  of  B.  who  adopted 
her.  At  first  they  were  very  good  to  her  and  she  loved 
them  dearly.  She  was  quite  unsophisticated  when  she  went 
to  them  and  did  not  realize  then  that  they  were  not  good 
people.  She  met  them  at  an  employment  agency  in  St. 
Louis  where  she  had  gone  after  leaving  the  Smiths,  the 
people  who  had  brought  her  up.  At  that  time  the  B.'s 
appeared  fairly  well-to-do,  but  Mr.  B.  had  been  running 
up  debts  that  later  carried  him  into  bankruptcy.  Inez 
was  sick  and  exhausted  now  from  having  worked  so  hard 
for  them.  She  finally  ran  away  from  that  town  because  the 
B.'s  wanted  to  go  elsewhere,  leaving  her  in  a  compromising 
position  with  a  young  man  who  rented  their  house.  She 
first  tried  boarding  in  two  places,  however,  before  she  ven- 
tured to  go. 

The  Smiths  were  the  people  she  lived  with  until  she  was 
14.  She  remembers  first  living  with  them,  but  faintly 
recalls  bearing  the  name  of  Mary  Johnson  before  that. 
Who  the  Johnsons  were  she  does  not  know,  but  she  feels 
sure  of  the  fact  that  she  was  born  in  New  Orleans.  How- 
ever, Inez  does  not  worry  about  her  parentage  even  though 
it  is  unknown.  Mrs.  Smith  was  an  elderly  woman  of  wealth 
who  was  very  good  to  her,  and  by  the  time  she  was  14  she 
had  studied  German  and  French,  algebra  and  trigonometry. 
She  had  a  French  tutor  and  took  lessons  on  the  piano. 


PATHOLOGICAL  LYING  AND  SWINDLING    57 

Always  did  well  in  school  and  loved  her  work  there.  The 
Smith  children,  who  were  much  older,  were  very  angry  with 
their  mother  for  all  the  money  she  spent  on  Inez  —  they 
would  have  preferred  its  being  expended  on  their  children. 
The  son  grew  quite  abusive  and  Mrs.  S.  was  made  to  suffer 
so  much  that  the  girl  came  to  feel  that  she  was  largely  the 
cause  of  the  old  lady's  unhappiness.  After  one  particularly 
deplorable  scene  she  slipped  away  from  their  home  in  New 
Orleans,  traveled  to  St.  Louis  and  went  to  an  employment 
agency  where  she  found  the  B.'s.  At  the  present  time, 
above  all  things,  she  does  not  want  the  Smiths  to  know  about 
her  when  she  is  temporarily  a  failure.  She  will  never  go 
back  to  them  until  she  can  help  the  old  lady  who  was  so 
good  to  her. 

Inez  tells  us  she  is  now  suffering  from  a  wound  still  open 
as  the  result  of  an  operation  for  appendicitis  performed 
two  years  previously.  She  also  suffered  from  tuberculosis 
a  few  years  ago.  (She  was  found  to  be  running  a  slight 
temperature,  and  some  slight  hemorrhages  in  the  sputum 
were  observed.) 

It  may  strengthen  the  portraiture  so  far  sketched  to  give 
our  impressions  as  stated  after  our  first  study  covering  a 
week  or  two ;  nor  will  it  lessen  the  reader's  interest  to  remark 
that  it  was  not  for  lack  of  acquaintance  with  the  pathological 
liar  type  that  we  failed  to  correctly  size  up  this  individual. 
Indeed,  we  had  already  studied  nearly  all  the  other  cases 
cited  in  this  monograph.  Our  statement  ran  as  follows : 
"This  girl  is  very  frank  and  talkative  with  us.  With  her 
strong,  but  refined  features  and  cultivated  voice  she  is  a 
good  deal  of  a  personality.  She  is  sanguine  and  independent. 
Very  likely  she  does  not  exaggerate  the  hard  times  she  has 
had  in  going  from  one  home  to  another.  One  cannot  but 
respect  this  unusual  young  woman  for  wanting  to  keep  her 
early  history  secret.  It  would  be  fortunate  if  some  one 


58  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

would  care  for  the  girl  and  get  her  ailments  cured.  With 
her  very  good  ability  she  might  easily  then  be  self-support- 
ing." 

A  woman  of  strength  and  judgment  undertook  to  look 
after  Inez.  The  girl's  personality  commanded  interest. 
In  a  few  days  she  complained  more  vigorously  of  her  ab- 
dominal trouble;  an  operation  seemed  imperative  and  was 
performed.  (An  account  of  this  will  be  given  later.)  Later 
the  girl  was  taken  to  a  convalescent  home  and  then  to  a 
beautiful  lake  resort.  While  here  she  suddenly  was  stricken 
desperately  ill.  Her  friend  was  telegraphed  for,  a  special 
boat  was  commissioned,  and  the  girl  was  taken  to  a  neigh- 
boring sanitarium.  The  doctors  readily  agreed  that  the 
case  was  one  of  simulation  or  hysteria.  She  was  brought 
back  to  Chicago  and  warned  that  this  sort  of  performance1 
would  not  pay.  After  being  given  further  opportunity 
to  rest,  although  under  less  favorable  circumstances,  in  a 
few  weeks  she  was  offered  work  in  several  homes,  but  in 
each  instance  the  connection  was  soon  severed.  Then  with- 
out letting  her  guardian-friend  know,  Inez  suddenly  left 
the  city. 

Inquiries  had  brought  by  this  time  responses  telling  some- 
thing of  the  career  of  Inez  in  the  past  two  years,  but  nothing 
earlier.  She  was  the  "mystery  girl"  in  the  Tennessee  town, 
as  she  was  in  Chicago.  The  B.'s  kept  a  boarding-house  and 
took  Inez  as  a  waitress,  knowing  her  first  by  still  another 
alias.  She  worked  for  them  about  a  year  and  then  went 
to  Memphis,  where  she  was  sick  in  a  hospital.  She  had 
now  taken  the  B.'s  name.  They  were  regarded  as  her 
guardians  (on  the  girl's  authority)  and  they  finally  sent  for 
her  again  out  of  pity,  although  they  felt  she  had  a  question- 
able past,  and  they  knew  she  had  lied  tremendously  while 
with  them.  Then  the  B.'s  moved  away  and  turned  Inez 
over  to  a  respectable  family.  While  with  the  B.'s  Inez  had 


PATHOLOGICAL  LYING  AND  SWINDLING    59 

been  regarded  as  a  partial  invalid ;  their  physician  diagnosed 
the  case  as  diabetes  and  found  it  incurable.  In  fact,  the 
B.'s  went  into  debt  for  her  prolonged  treatment.  Another 
physician,  who  was  called  in  after  the  B.'s  left,  said  the 
trouble  was  Bright's  disease.  At  any  rate,  all  regarded  her 
as  suffering  from  some  chronic  disorder.  Except  for  her 
extraordinary  lying,  of  which  she  made  exhibitions  to  many, 
and  some  little  tendencies  to  dishonesty  mixed  with  her 
lying,  Inez  was  regarded  as  being  quite  normal.  The  two 
other  families  with  whom  she  lived  for  a  time  found  it  impos- 
sible to  tolerate  the  girl  on  account  of  her  lying.  Finally, 
obtaining  money  by  false  representation,  telling  the  story 
of  a  rich  uncle  in  Chicago  to  whom  she  was  going,  Inez  de- 
parted, taking  with  her  a  trunk  containing  valuables  belong- 
ing to  the  B.'s. 

Dropping  our  chronological  account  of  this  case  we  may 
from  this  time  deal  with  it  as  a  whole,  putting  together  the 
facts  as  they  developed  by  further  study  of  Inez  herself  and 
by  the  receipt  of  information  from  many  sources. 

Since  we  have  known  her,  Inez  has  been  under  the  observa- 
tion of  several  skilled  medical  specialists.  She  all  along 
has  been  in  good  general  physical  condition.  Having  been 
treated  previously  for  diabetes,  special  examinations  were 
repeatedly  made,  but  never  a  trace  of  this  trouble  was 
discernible.  Her  own  story  of  having  had  tuberculosis, 
and  the  traces  of  blood  in  the  sputum,  which  she  presented 
on  handkerchiefs,  etc.,  led  to  repeated  tests  for  tuberculosis. 
These  also  proved  absolutely  negative.  Before  all  this, 
there  was  found  on  the  left  side  of  the  abdomen  a  mass 
which,  from  the  history  the  girl  gave,  was  surmised  to  be  a 
tubercular  abscess.  At  this  time  she  was  running  a  little 
temperature.  An  operation  was  performed  and  an  encysted 
hairpin  was  removed  from  the  peritoneal  cavity.  This 
had  undoubtedly  found  entrance  through  the  old  appendi- 


60  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

citis  wound;  the  hairpin  had  evidently  been  straightened 
for  the  purpose.  Both  wounds  now  speedily  closed.  Gyne- 
cological examination  showed  no  disease  and  established 
the  fact  of  virginity.  Thorough  neurological  examination 
showed  that  the  girl  was  not  of  nervous  type  and  that 
there  was  no  evidence  whatever  of  organic  disease.  There 
was  complaint  of  frequent  headaches,  but  no  signs  of  acute 
suffering  from  these  were  ever  witnessed  and  by  this  lime 
no  reports  of  subjective  symptoms  could  be  credited.  No 
sensory  defects  of  any  importance.  It  was  always  easy  to 
get  a  little  variation  upon  visual  tests  and  the  like,  however. 
Weight  130;  height  5  ft.  1  in.  Color  good.  Head  notably 
well  shaped  with  broad  high  forehead.  Strength  good. 
Very  normal  development  in  all  ways. 

Most  important  to  note  as  bearing  on  her  social  career 
was  the  fact  that  Inez  was  possessed  of  markedly  strong, 
regular,  pleasant  features,  including  a  good  set  of  teeth  well 
cared  for,  and  an  unusually  firm  chin.  In  attitude  and 
expression  she  seemed  to  give  complete  proof  of  great  strength 
of  will  and  character.  Her  face  suggested  both  frankness 
and  firmness.  When  with  quiet  force  and  dignity  asserting 
her  desire  for  education  and  a  place  in  the  world,  Inez  pre- 
sented a  most  convincing  picture.  Perhaps  even  more 
significant  is  the  fact  that  Inez  possesses  a  speaking  voice  of 
power  and  charm,  well  modulated  and  of  general  qualities 
which  could  belong  apparently  to  no  other  than  a  highly 
cultivated  person. 

During  a  year  there  has  been  no  variation  in  the  general 
well-being  of  Inez,  although  she  has  been  taken  to  hospitals 
in  at  least  two  more  towns  and  has  figured  again  as  a  sufferer 
from  tuberculosis  and  appendicitis,  and  has  written  several 
times  to  friends  that  she  was  about  to  be  operated  on. 

The  diagnoses  of  several  competent  medical  men  are 
that  the  girl  is  a  simulator  or  is  an  hysterical,  and  their 


PATHOLOGICAL  LYING  AND  SWINDLING    61 

findings  show  that  she  has  lied  tremendously  about  her 
past.  (There  were  never  any  positive  signs  of  hysteria, 
and  our  own  opinion  is  that  the  case  is  much  better  called 
one  of  extreme  simulation  and  misrepresentation,  as  in  the 
diabetes  and  sputum  affairs,  etc.,  and  of  self-mutilation, 
as  with  the  hairpin.) 

We  have  had  ample  opportunity  to  become  acquainted 
with  Inez's  mental  qualities.  She  has  repeatedly  been 
given  tests  for  mental  ability.  As  judged  by  the  average 
of  those  seen  in  our  court  work  we  are  forced  to  regard  her 
as  having  ability  clearly  above  the  normal.  Her  perceptions 
are  keen  and  quick.  She  works  planfully  and  rapidly  with 
our  concrete  problems  and  shows  good  powers  of  mental 
representation.  It  is  notable  that  she  is  very  keen  to  do 
her  best  on  tests  and  takes  much  delight  in  a  good  record. 
Her  psychomotor  control  is  astonishingly  good.  In  a  cer- 
tain tapping  test,  which  we  consider  well  done  if  the  indi- 
vidual has  succeeded  in  tapping  in  90  squares  in  30  seconds, 
she  did  117  and  129  at  two  successive  trials  with  only  one 
error  in  each.  This  is  next  to  the  best  record  we  have  ever 
seen.  Our  puzzle  box,  which  is  seldom  opened  in  less  than 
2  minutes,  she  planfully  attacked  and  conquered  in  52 
seconds.  She  also  rapidly  put  it  together  again,  which  is 
an  unusual  performance.  Reaction  times  on  the  antonym 
test,  giving  the  opposites  to  words,  were  very  low ;  average 
1.4  seconds.  Her  immediate  memory  for  words  was  normal, 
but  nothing  extraordinary.  She  gave  correctly,  although 
not  quite  in  logical  order,  18  out  of  20  items  on  a  passage 
which  she  read  herself.  On  a  passage  read  four  times  to 
her  she  gave  11  out  of  12  items  in  correct  sequence.  The 
Kent-Rosanoff  association  test  showed,  to  our  surprise, 
nothing  peculiar.  Notwithstanding  her  known  social  char- 
acteristics, there  were  very  few  egocentric  or  subjective 
reactions. 


62  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

Nor  did  the  "Aussage"  test  show  great  peculiarity.  On 
free  recital  she  gave  17  items,  two  of  which  were  incorrect. 
They  were  misinterpretations  rather  than  inventions,  how- 
ever. On  questioning  she  added  15  items.  She  was  incor- 
rect on  5  more  details,  but  all  of  these  were  denials  of  objects 
actually  to  be  seen  in  the  picture.  Not  one  was  a  fictitious 
addition.  She  rejected  all  the  6  suggestions  proffered. 

Our  psychological  observations  were  important  beyond 
the  giving  of  formal  tests.  We  found  her  to  be  a  fluent  and 
remarkably  logical  and  coherent  conversationalist.  Her 
choice  of  words  was  unusually  good.  Questioned  about 
this  she  said  she  had  always  made  it  a  point  to  cultivate  a 
vocabulary  and  was  particularly  fond  of  the  use  of  correct 
English.  (This  was  all  the  more  interesting  because  we. 
later  knew  that  she  had  been  living  recently  with  somewhat 
illiterate  people  and  that  her  original  home  offered  her 
very  little  in  the  way  of  educational  advantages.)  Inez 
told  us  that  she  had  earlier  carried  her  desire  for  self-expres- 
sion in  language  to  the  point  of  writing  stories  and  plays, 
but  we  were  never  able  to  get  her  to  do  anything  of  the  kind 
for  us.  One  of  her  constant  pleas  was  that  she  might  tret 
the  chance  to  become  a  well-trained  teacher  of  English.  Her 
letters  never  showed  the  same  skill  with  English  that  her 
conversation  denoted,  but  her  meagre  education  probably 
accounted  for  this. 

Characteristic  of  Inez,  also,  is  her  intense  egoism  and  her 
abundant  self-assertion  under  all  circumstances.  It  often 
seemed  to  us  as  if  for  her  the  world  revolved,  with  passing 
show,  around  a  pivot  from  which  she  regarded  it  as  existing 
only  for  what  it  meant  for  her  career.  These  qualities 
have  led  to  her  statements,  and  perhaps  to  the  actual  feel- 
ings, that  she  was  the  aggrieved  one,  and  had  been  badly 
treated  on  many  occasions.  This  seemed  to  reach  almost 
paranoidal  heights  at  times,  and  yet,  before  passing  judg- 


PATHOLOGICAL  LYING  AND  SWINDLING    63 

ment  on  this,  one  should  be  in  position  to  know,  what 
probably  will  never  be  known,  namely,  the  actual  facts  of 
her  earliest  treatment.  Occasionally  Inez  showed  most 
unreasonable  bad  temper  and  obstinacy.  This  only  came 
out  when  she  was  asked  to  do  things  which  she  considered 
occupationally  beneath  her.  In  general  she  felt  herself 
much  above  the  ordinary  run  of  people.  When  she  could 
be  patronizing,  as  with  children,  she  acted  quite  the  grand 
lady.  Indeed,  in  asserting  herself  on  numerous  occasions  she 
has  assumed  just  this  attitude,  which  is  all  the  more  strange 
because  our  further  information  shows  that  it  was  not  justi- 
fied by  any  social  station  which  her  family  ever  held. 

Going  further  with  psychological  considerations  it  is 
to  be  asserted  that  Inez  showed  marked  lack  of  normal 
apperceptive  ability  in  not  appreciating  the  necessarily 
unfavorable  results  of  her  own  lying.  For  that  matter, 
she  also  fails  to  learn  by  experience,  for  very  frequently  she 
has  suffered  from  her  own  prevarications.  It  might,  how- 
ever, be  argued  that  to  Inez  the  thought  of  a  possible  hum- 
drum future  in  which  there  was  no  adventure,  no  roving, 
and  no  playing  the  part  of  a  successful  personality,  was  a 
worse  choice  than  that  of  lying,  which  might  and,  indeed, 
often  did  serve  the  purpose  of  making  friends  with  people, 
who  otherwise  would  not  have  entertained  her.  So  one 
could  hardly  judge  her  deficient  even  in  this  particular. 
(Of  the  character  of  her  lying  and  the  special  observations 
on  that  point  more  later.) 

We  found  Inez,  then,  neither  mentally  defective  nor  in- 
sane. To  even  say  that  she  was  without  moral  sense  would 
be  beyond  the  mark,  for  in  many  ways  she  showed  great 
appreciation  of  the  best  types  of  behavior.  Her  peculiari- 
ties verging  on  the  abnormal  are,  however,  undoubted ; 
they  render  her  a  socially  pernicious  person.  They  are  to 
be  summed  up  in  terms  of  what  we  have  discussed  above, 


64  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

namely,  her  excessive  egoism,  her  faulty  judgment  or  apper- 
ceptions, her  astounding  tendency  to  falsification. 

Inez  was  next  heard  from  in  Iowa  where  she  wrote  that 
two  doctors  had  pronounced  upon  her  case  and  said  an 
operation  was  again  imperative.  She  asked  her  recently 
made  friend  for  permission  to  have  this  done,  and  also  for 
$150  to  cover  expenses.  Neither,  of  course,  was  forth- 
coming, on  the  grounds  of  there  being  no  guardianship. 
(Her  age  was  then  unknown.)  Inez  wrote,  "I  just  thought 
I  was  compelled  by  law  to  let  you  know  of  my  whereabouts, 
for  I  understood  I  could  do  nothing  without  your  consent.'* 
In  the  same  letter,  replete  with  other  lies,  Inez  asks,  "Please 
forgive  me  now  for  all  my  willfulness  and  wrongdoing. 
I  will  do  my  best  never  to  do  it  again,  and  Oh  !  I  do  so  want 
to  be  good  so  that  you  may  feel  proud  of  me  some  day  in  the 
near  future." 

A  month  or  so  later  this  friend  was  railed  up  by  tlie  direc- 
tor of  a  religious  home  for  girls  in  Chicago,  who  stated  that 
Inez  had  just  come  to  them  and  had  been  taken  seriously 
ill.  Advice  was  given  to  discount  her  symptoms,  but  she 
was  sent  once  more  to  a  hospital.  Here  she  produced  more 
blood  as  if  from  a  pulmonary  hemorrhage  and  more  symp- 
toms were  recounted,  but  the^doctors  decided  after  careful 
examination  that  she  was  falsifying.  Her  illness  o 
the  minute  she  was  told  to  leave  the  hospital.  Matters 
were  serious,  for  Inez  was  now  without  home,  money,  or 
relatives.  She  was  once  more  taken  under  protection  and 
greater  effort  was  made  to  trace  her  family.  They  were 
discovered  through  letters  containing  remitt;:  it  by 

Inez  herself  from  Iowa,  after  years  of  silence.  Much  of 
her  career  was  soon  brought  to  light.  By  this  time,  we  may 
note,  several  observers  had  insisted  that  from  a  commonsense 
standpoint  the  girl  certainly  was  insane. 


PATHOLOGICAL  LYING  AND  SWINDLING    65 

While  affairs  were  being  looked  up,  Inez  conferred  with 
us  from  time  to  time.  She  started  by  telling  a  thoroughly 
good  story,  the  general  import  of  which  was  the  same  as 
she  told  months  previously,  but  there  were  differences  in 
many  details.  In  the  first  place  she  still  insisted  she  was 
17  years  old  and  gave  us  an  exact  date  as  her  birthday  — 
this  was  in  response  to  the  mild  suggestion  that  she  might 
be  considerably  older.  Since  her  letters,  although  showing 
very  good  choice  of  words,  were  incorrectly  punctuated, 
we  inquired  further  about  her  education.  She  said  she  had 
received  18  credits  in  a  noted  girls'  seminary  in  the  south, 
but  later  reversed  this  and  stated  she  had  very  little  educa- 
tion. She  told  us  her  experiences  of  the  last  few  months 
when  she  had  been  introducing  literary  works  in  the  towns' 
of  Iowa.  She  had  done  well  for  a  beginner  at  this,  we  found 
from  other  sources,  but  had  made  misrepresentations  and 
had  talked  too  freely,  against  her  employers'  wishes  and 
advice.  Finally  she  had  sent  in  forged  orders.  This  was 
quite  unnecessary,  for  her  salary  was  assured  and  sufficient, 
and  her  employers  had  regarded  her  as  an  extremely  promis- 
ing representative.  In  Iowa  she  was  receiving  mail  under 
two  different  names ;  she  still  found  it  convenient  to  repre- 
sent herself  sometimes  as  Agnes  W.  In  her  peregrinations 
she  had  again  made  close  friends  with  some  substantial 
people,  who  found  out,  however,  in  short  order  that  she  was 
untruthful,  and  her  chances  with  them  were  at  once  spoiled. 

In  the  next  we,eks,  when  under  observation,  Inez  varied 
her  story  from  time  to  time  even  with  the  same  persons.  She 
was  now  17  and  now  19  years  old.  She  had  an  operation 
first  in  one  town  and  then  it  was  in  another.  Her  ante- 
cedents in  many  particulars  varied  from  time  to  time.  Inez 
seemed  to  have  lost  her  desire  or  ability  to  be  consistent, 
and  in  particular  appeared  to  have  no  conception  of  the 
effect  upon  the  adjustment  of  her  own  case  which  her  con- 


66  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

tinual  lying  was  likely  to  have.  (At  this  time  again  some 
non-professional  observers  insisted  strenuously  that  Inez 
was  insane.  They  based  their  opinion  upon  the  fact  that 
she  showed  so  little  apperceptive  ability,  so  little  judgment 
in  relating  the  results  of  her  continual  lying  to  its  necessary 
effect  upon  her  career.)  It  requires  too  much  space  to  go 
over  the  complicated  details  of  her  many  stories,  but  some 
of  her  expressions  and  behavior  are  worth  noting. 

We  always  found  Inez  most  friendly,  sometimes  voluble, 
and  she  ever  dealt  with  us  in  a  lady-like  manner.  Again 
we  noted  that  many  a  society  woman  would  give  much  for 
her  well  modulated  voice  and  powers  of  verbal  expression. 
Without  any  suggestion  of  melodrama  she  would  rise  to 
strong  passages  in  giving  vent  to  her  feelings  of  indignation 
and  ambition.  At  this  time  we  were  still  wondering  where 
she  could  have  obtained  her  education ;  it  was  not  until 
later  that  we  comprehended  that  her  abilities  represented 
sheer  native  traits. 

She  first  came  to  us  much  hurt  because  a  certain  official 
had  warned  her,  after  one  of  her  simulating  episodes  in  a 
hospital,  never  to  deceive  again.  "My  trying  to  get  sym- 
pathy !  I  don't  want  any  sympathy.  I  told  her  I  was  inde- 
pendent and  always  wanted  to  make  my  own  way  in  the 
world.  If  they  thought  I  wasn't  sick  in  the  hospital 
why  didn't  they  say  so.  The  doctor  told  me  to  stay 
in  bed. 

"  Doctor,  yes,  I  did  lie  to  you  about  my  age  before ;  why 
shouldn't  I?  I  have  been  deceived  on  all  sides  and  have 
found  that  people  are  against  me.  If  they  want  to  leave 
me  alone,  they  can  get  the  truth,  but  when  one  is  deceived 
one  has  to  tell  lies  sometimes.  I've  had  many  troubles. 
Oh,  doctor,  if  you  knew  what  I've  been  through  and  what's 
in  my  heart  you'd  think  I  do  pretty  well.  I  would  rather 
starve  than  have  it  cast  up  to  me  that  I  had  asked  for  any- 


PATHOLOGICAL  LYING  AND  SWINDLING    67 

body's  help  or  sympathy.  I  want  to  make  my  own  way. 
I  must  have  an  education.  In  September  I  plan  to  go  to 
the  M.  Academy  and  work  my  way  through.  I  am  just 
past  18  now. 

"The  B.'s  are  ashamed  of  me  I  suppose.  I  ran  away  from 
them.  They  are  refined  people.  But  I  can't  be  treated 
in  that  way.  They  adopted  me.  They  said  that  I  got 
some  money  dishonestly,  but,  doctor,  it  is  not  in  me  to  be 
bad.  I  feel  that  through  and  through. 

"Well,  I  know  that  I'm  a  Yankee  by  birth,  on  both  sides. 
My  people  came  from  Mayflower  stock.  I  will  make  my 
way  in  the  world,  I  will  succeed,  and  you'll  see,  doctor.  I 
will  have  an  education.  As  to  going  back  to  the  Johnsons, 
I  would  commit  suicide  rather  than  do  that.  It  was  not 
true  that  I  had  a  good  education  as  I  told  you.  They  did 
not  treat  me  well.  They  can  write  as  they  please  and  talk 
about  forgiveness  for  what  I  have  done,  but  it  is  they  who 
were  cruel  and  abusive.  Suppose  they  do  say  I'm  their 
child.  I  know  I  am  not  because  I  was  not  treated  the  same 
as  the  others.  I  was  12  or  13  when  I  ran  away  from  them. 
How  could  I  belong  to  the  family?  They  are  all  so  much 
older  than  I  am." 

Inez  now  gave  us,  most  curiously,  some  addresses  which 
opened  up  knowledge  of  her  career  over  several  years.  But 
what  she  told  us  about  these  new  people  was  directly  denied 
by  return  mail.  At  one  interview  her  first  words  were, 
"Do  you  know  now,  doctor,  that  I  was  in  a  State  hospital?" 
Having  made  this  challenging  statement  she  went  no  further, 
merely  involved  herself  in  contradictions  as  to  the  place, 
and  would  say  nothing  more  than  that  she  had  once  suffered 
from  an  attack  of  nervous  prostration.  She  absolutely 
denied  items  of  information  "about  herself  which  we  had 
gradually  accumulated,  and  this  type  of  reaction  obtained 
all  the  way  through  our  last  period  of  acquaintance  with 


68  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

Inez,  even  after  we  had  the  detailed  facts  about  her  early 
life  from  her  parents. 

Inez  never  lost  an  opportunity  to  impress  upon  people 
whom  she  did  not  regard  as  her  equals  that  she  considered 
herself  much  of  a  lady  and  quite  above  housework.  On 
one  occasion,  when  held  as  a  runaway  girl,  she  had  a  terrible 
outbreak  of  temper  simply  because  she  was  asked  to  clear 
the  dinner  table.  This  was  no  momentary  affair.  Her 
recalcitrancy  was  kept  up  the  larger  part  of  one  day,  and 
she  made  the  place  almost  unbearable  that  night  by  scream- 
ing and  moaning.  Telling  me  about  the  incident,  she  said 
it  was  because  she  would  not  allow  herself  to  cater  to  such 
people.  "If  a  person  asks  me,  I  may  do  things,  but  nobody 
can  tell  me  to.  I  would  not  give  in.  I  would  not  do  it.'* 

To  some  of  us  it  has  seemed  highly  significant  that  at 
moments  which  would  ordinarily  be  expected  to  bring  out 
great  emotion  Inez  showed  almost  none.  For  instance, 
when  going  to  an  important  interview  about  the  disposition 
of  her  case,  she  first  plaintively  said  she  did  not  know  what 
to  say,  and  then  immediately  began  to  dwell  with  evident 
pleasure  upon  the  costume  of  the  person  addressing  her. 
Many  normal  emotions  were  seen  expressed,  however,  and 
many  moral  sentiments  were  undoubtedly  held,  but  there 
seemed  to  be  curious  displacements  upon  these  levels  of  her 
mental  life;  there  was  faulty  mental  stratification.  Prob- 
ably the  force  which  caused  this  is  egocentrism. 

In  relating  what  we  now  know  of  the  past  history  of  this 
case  we  shall  put  together  that  which  we  have  heard  from 
many  different  sources.  There  is  no  question  about  all 
the  important  facts  —  correspondents  largely  corroborate 
each  other. 

Inez  came  from  a  family  of  French  extraction,  apparently 
stable  and  normal  tradespeople.  The  old  mother  at  74 


PATHOLOGICAL  LYING  AND  SWINDLING    69 

years  wrote  us  an  unusually  well-thought-out,  detailed 
account  of  her  daughter's  early  life.  The  paternal  grand- 
father was  insane  and  an  aunt  had  epilepsy.  Defective 
heredity  in  other  respects  is  denied.  We  get  no  history  of 
convulsions  in  the  immediate  family,  nor  of  any  other  neurotic 
manifestation,  except  that  one  sister  is  "very  excitable." 

Inez  came  when  the  mother  was  unusually  advanced  in 
life,  and  the  brothers  and  sisters,  of  whom  there  were  five, 
had  long  since  been  born.  There  was  a  difference  of  10 
years  between  Inez  and  the  next  older.  In  telling  the  facts, 
the  mother  dwells  much  on  this  and  the  bearing  which  her 
chagrin  during  pregnancy  may  have  had  upon  the  girFs 
physical  and  mental  development.  She  was  born,  then, 
after  a  troubled  pregnancy,  a  weak  and  sickly  child,  "  almost 
like  a  skeleton." 

Inez  was  rather  slow  at  walking,  but  at  one  year  spoke 
her  first  words.  We  do  not  know  with  accuracy  about  the 
earliest  factors  in  the  mental  environment.  (Inez  has  told 
various  stories  about  early  family  friction,  and  even  about 
contracting  an  infection  at  home,  much  of  which  seems  highly 
conjectural.)  Between  the  ages  of  7  and  10  several  sick- 
nesses, diphtheria,  measles  with  some  cardiac  complication, 
etc.,  kept  her  much  out  of  school.  Part  of  the  time  she 
lived  in  New  Orleans,  and  part  of  the  time  in  a  country 
district.  She  only  went  to  school  until  she  was  14,  and  was 
somewhat  retarded  on  account  of  changing  about  and  ill- 
nesses. However,  it  is  said  she  always  liked  her  school  and 
showed  fair  aptitude  for  study.  At  14  she  returned  to  New 
Orleans  and,  desiring  to  be  a  dressmaker,  started  in  that 
trade.  She  worked  in  several  places,  but  finally  went  back 
to  her  home. 

At  the  age  of  18  Inez  met  with  what,  according  to  her 
family,  was  a  decisive  event  in  her  life.  She  was  in  a  trolley 
car  accident ;  after  being  knocked  down  she  was  unconscious 


70  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

for  some  time.  No  definite  injury  was  recorded.  Her 
family  marked  an  entire  change  of  character  from  that 
time.  They  say  she  then  began  lying  in  the  minutest 
detail  about  people  and  seemed  to  believe  in  her  own  falsi- 
fications. Besides  this  she  started  the  roving  tendency 
which  she  has  shown  ever  since. 

The  extensive  information  which  we  have  received  con- 
cerning the  later  history  of  this  remarkable  case  we  can  only 
take  space  to  give  in  summary.  We  know  definitely  that 
Inez  has  received  attention,  during  periods  varying  from  a 
few  days  to  six  months,  in  no  less  than  18  different  hospital*, 
Besides  this  she  has  been  under  the  care  of  physician <  a  I 
least  a  score  of  times.  Her  swindling  in  this  matter  was  so 
flagrant  in  one  eastern  city  to  which  she  had  journeyed 
that  she  was  handled  through  the  police  court  and  was  sen- 
tenced to  a  state  hospital  for  the  insane  for  a  term  of  6  months. 
The  charge  was  that  she  was  an  idle  person  and  a  beggar, 
and  she  was  regarded  as  perhaps  being  unbalanced.  The 
report  from  this  town  is  that  she  would  be  taken  with  "spells 
of  apparent  violent  illness  on  the  street,  in  the  trolley  cars, 
at  railroad  stations,  and  so  be  carried  to  various  hospitals 
and  doctors'  homes."  She  has  visited  numerous  cities,  get- 
ting her  sustenance  largely  through  hospitals  and  physicians. 

After  being  admitted  into  one  famous  hospital  and  show- 
ing some  of  her  curious  manifestations  she  was  transferred 
to  a  state  institution  in  the  vicinity  to  be  studied  for  insanity. 
Correspondence  with  one  physician  tells  the  story  of  how 
five  years  ago  he  was  called  from  a  medical  meeting  to  attend 
this  "girl"  who  had  been  taken  from  a  trolley  car  into  his 
home.  She  was  apparently  suffering  great  pain  in  the 
region  of  the  old  appendicitis  scar  and  she  was  conveyed  in 
an  ambulance  to  a  hospital.  After  investigation  for  a  few 
days,  it  was  decided  she  was  hysterical  or  a  simulator. 


PATHOLOGICAL  LYING  AND  SWINDLING    71 

On  numerous  occasions  her  feigned  illness  has  been  so 
apparently  overcoming  that  she  has  had  to  be  transferred 
in  an  ambulance  to  a  hospital.  One  of  her  usual  perform- 
ances has  been  to  get  into  some  home  or  institution  and  then 
keep  others  awake  all  night  with  her  signs  of  distress.  It  is 
interesting  that  she  has  used  the  same  methods  over  and 
over  again,  but  has  been  adroit  enough  to  vary  the  illnesses 
which  she  has  simulated.  At  one  time  investigation  in  a 
hospital  seemed  to  show  that  she  was  neurasthenic.  She 
has  been  given  chances  in  homes  for  convalescents,  but  has 
never  maintained  herself  in  such  a  place  for  long.  We  note 
she  was  sent  back  from  one  of  these  to  the  main  hospital 
on  account  of  having  vomited  the  medicine  she  had  been 
given.  In  fact,  she  has  repeatedly  been  found  resisting  the 
treatment  which  had  been  prescribed. 

The  record  of  admission  and  treatment  given  in  one  hospi- 
tal is  of  peculiar  interest.  She  was  received  there  four  years 
ago  and  evidently  had  been  unable  just  previously  to  take 
care  of  herself  properly  on  account  of  roaming.  Her  cloth- 
ing was  dirty  and  her  head  unclean.  She  was  found  to 
have  the  old  appendicitis  scar,  which  contained  a  small 
sinus.  She  remained  in  bed  after  admission,  complaining 
of  much  pain  in  her  abdomen,  not  well  localized  however, 
and  would  lie  moaning,  crying,  and  rolling  across  the  bed. 
She  was  then  running  a  slight  temperature.  After  a  time 
an  operation  was  decided  upon  and  a  hairpin  was  found  in 
the  abdominal  wall,  undoubtedly  inserted  through  the  scar 
by  the  patient  herself.  (The  findings  of  the  surgeon  in 
Chicago,  then,  revealed  a  repeated  performance.) 

At  another  place  the  patient  maintained  she  was  unable 
to  urinate,  but  at  the  same  time  strongly  resisted  cathe- 
terization.  From  the  variability  of  her  complaint  it  was 
found  it  could  not  be  caused  by  a  local  condition,  and  exami- 
nation showed  no  reason  for  the  difficulty.  Analysis  of 


72  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

her  symptoms  undertaken  at  this  time  led  to  several  stories, 
one  about  urethritis,  which  Inez  claimed  to  have  contracted 
from  her  brother  at  3  years;  an  episode  when  she  had  re- 
ceived a  great  fright  during  micturition ;  an  incident  when 
she  had  seen  a  man  exposed  when  she  went  to  the  toilet. 
(Of  course,  our  experience  with  this  type  of  case  leads  us  to 
appreciate  the  difficulties  of  psychological  analysis  with 
extreme  liars.) 

On  one  occasion  she  entered  a  hospital,  claiming  to  have 
been  recently  injured;  she  had  been  taken  in  a  supposed 
fainting  condition  from  a  car.  Then  it  was  she  maintained 
that  she  had  been  struck  by  an  iron  bar  and  that  a  spike 
had  entered  her  back.  She  also  claimed  at  this  time  to 
have  had  her  toes  frozen.  Study  of  the  case  here,  too, 
showed  no  signs  of  injury  or  frost  bite.  On  another  occasion 
she  told  of  having  been  dropped  by  a  nurse  while  being  lifted 
from  a  bed.  Altogether  her  stories  and  her  simulations  have 
been  convincing  enough  to  get  for  her  on  many  occasions 
good  attention  during  at  least  a  few  days. 

We  can  get  no  account  of  true  hysterical  signs  being  dis- 
covered by  any  one.  There  has  been  no  showing  of  anything 
but  that  she  is  a  liar  and  a  simulator.  In  the  hospital  records 
the  portions  devoted  to  previous  history  are  thoroughly 
vitiated  by  her  untruthfulness,  and  they  contain  statements 
which  offer  great  contradictions,  one  to  the  other. 

Inez  has  been  observed,  then,  for  two  long  periods  by 
psychiatrists.  While  at  the  end  of  neither  period  were  the 
observers  willing  to  state  that  the  young  woman  was  compos 
mentis,  still  their  verdict  in  this  matter  had  to  be  made  up 
from  considerations  of  her  social  behavior  rather  than  from 
what  they  were  able  to  discern  by  direct  observation  of  her 
mental  processes.  From  one  case-record  we  read  that 
"The  patient  was  quiet,  pleasant,  and  agreeable,  replied 
promptly  and  intelligently  to  questions,  and  talked  spon- 


PATHOLOGICAL  LYING  AND  SWINDLING     73 

taneously  of  her  affairs.  She  was  quite  clear  as  to  the  envi- 
ronment, had  apparently  a  satisfactory  memory,  with  the 
exception  of  a  recent  period  preceding  admission.  Her 
statements,  too,  were  probably  not  altogether  truthful,  but 
frequently  a  reason  for  the  untruthfulness  was  made  out. 
She  thought  that  her  mind  was  all  right,  but  complained 
of  having  occasional  difficulty  in  thinking." 

Another  prolonged  study  of  her  mental  status  was  made 
four  years  ago.  From  the  record  we  learn  that  there  were 
no  apparent  reactions  to  hallucinations.  Consciousness 
was  clear  and  the  patient  was  completely  oriented  for  time, 
place,  and  persons.  The  train  of  thought  was  coherent  and 
relevant.  Questions  were  readily  answered  and  attention 
easily  held.  Memory  was  fair  for  most  events.  School 
knowledge  was  reasonably  well  retained.  Judgment,  to 
this  observer,  seemed  impaired,  although  no  definite  delu- 
sions could  be  elicited.  Emotionally  she  was  found  more  or 
less  irritable,  fault  finding,  and  at  times  a  trifle  despondent. 
(Certainly  the  latter  would  be  a  natural  reaction  under  the 
circumstances.)  Often,  however,  she  was  found  cheerful 
and  contented.  No  special  volitional  disturbances  were 
noted.  Was  found  to  act  in  an  hysterical  manner  when 
she  felt  ill.  She  was  neat,  tidy,  and  cleanly  in  her  habits. 
Appetite  was  good  and  she  slept  well.  Such  was  the  report 
from  the  institution  where  she  was  held  for  six  months. 
There  was  no  material  change  in  her  condition  during  this 
time;  she  showed  herself  very  proficient  with  the  needle; 
she  was  discharged  when  her  sentence  expired. 

We  note  a  statement  from  one  hospital  that  this  "  girl " 
gave  no  evidence  of  having  had  any  direct  sexual  experience, 
or  that  she  had  ruminated  much  over  these  matters.  Her 
story  about  frequent  fainting  attacks  given  at  this  time  was 
not  corroborated  by  observation.  The  diagnosis  from  one 
hospital  was  neurasthenia,  but  investigation  of  her  case  in 


74  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

most  places  seems  to  have  led  merely  to  the  conclusion  that 
she  was  a  tremendous  liar. 

Notwithstanding  our  long  record  of  this  case  and  the 
accounts  which  have  been  handed  in  to  us  of  experiences 
with  her  in  other  localities,  we  do  not  presume  to  know  a 
tithe  of  the  places  Inez  has  been  to  or  lived  in  during  the 
last  eight  years.  It  is  more  than  likely  that  she  herself 
would  find  it  difficult  to  give  any  accurate  account  of  her 
rovings.  At  the  time  we  first  saw  Inez  her  parents  had 
not  heard  from  her  for  about  three  years.  Shortly  after 
this  we  found  that  she  had  renewed  correspondence  with 
them  and  had  sent  them  money  as  if  she  were  now  pros- 
perous. Her  family  have  all  along,  in  spite  of  her  stories, 
been  poor.  At  one  period  she  visited  several  cities  in  the 
southeastern  states  and  was  at  a  hospital  in  one  of  them. 
In  Charleston  there  is  a  family  by  the  name  of  B.  (spelled 
the  same  as  the  name  of  the  people  she  was  with  in  Ten- 
nessee). These  were  the  people  Inez  asked  us  to  write 
to  in  an  appeal,  because  they  had  long  known  her  and  were 
wealthy,  for  a  chance  to  get  an  education.  She  stated 
they  were  immediate  relatives  of  the  B.'s  in  Tennessee,  and 
that  she  had  visited  them  once  at  their  fine  home  in  Charles- 
ton for  three  or  four  months.  These  people  replied  to  us 
that  they  had  been  receiving  letters  for  years  from  associa- 
tions and  organizations  in  regard  to  this  girl  whom  they 
had  never  seen.  They  were  convinced  she  had  assumed 
their  name  because  she  had  understood  they  were  well-to-do 
and  liberal.  "We  know  nothing  about  her  education,  but 
judge  she  has  enough  to  dupe  people  with ;  posing  as  poor 
at  one  time,  sick  at  another,  and  anxious  for  an  education 
at  another,  as  you  inform  us." 

From  another  correspondent  with  whom  Inez  had  lived 
in  Alabama  for  a  few  weeks  we  had  a  marvelous  tale  which 


PATHOLOGICAL  LYING  AND  SWINDLING    75 

they  heard  from  her.  She  had  told  them  she  formerly  lived 
in  the  most  beautiful  part  of  New  Orleans  and  when  5  years 
old  was  placed  in  a  convent,  and  then  taken  to  a  boarding- 
school,  from  which  she  was  kidnapped  and  taken  to  a  small 
town  in  Georgia.  She  was  later  placed  in  another  boarding- 
school  and  there  met  the  wealthy  B.'s  of  Charleston  who 
took  her  home  with  them.  While  there  she  had  to  go  to  a 
hospital  on  account  of  some  infection.  One  day  she  was 
thrust  into  a  taxicab,  taken  on  a  boat,  landed  at  another 
city,  etc.  The  B.'s  of  Charleston  have  thus  figured  long 
in  her  story,  and  we  learned  from  several  correspondents 
that  this  kidnapping  has  figured  over  and  over  as  a  big 
event  in  her  life. 

Once,  years  ago,  Inez  was  taken  into  a  private  home  ac- 
companied by  a  trunk,  we  hear,  which  was  found  to  contain 
a  considerable  amount  of  jewelry.  This  was  pawned  in 
the  name  of  the  people  with  whom  she  then  lived  and  was 
redeemed  later  by  some  one  else.  Inez  laid  claim  to  the 
jewelry  after  a  time,  but  apparently  was  unable  to  produce 
anybody  who  could  vouch  that  it  was  really  hers.  Its 
ownership  has  remained  unknown. 

When  she  went  to  St.  Louis  at  one  time  she  had  stated 
she  was  to  meet  a  relative  there,  but  the  person,  we  have 
come  to  know,  was  a  certain  very  decent  young  man  who  had 
become  acquainted  with  her  through  a  correspondence 
bureau.  He  had  thought  well  of  her  and  warned  her  not 
to  come  to  that  city,  but  when  she  did  so  he  met  her  and  took 
her  at  once  to  his  own  home  where  the  womenfolk  looked 
after  her  until  she  was  found  a  place  elsewhere.  The  deliber- 
ate attempt  to  throw  herself  upon  his  protection  was  thus 
frustrated  by  his  relatives.  Many  other  reports  of  the 
misrepresentations  of  Inez  have  been  given  us.  She  has 
discovered  that  borrowing  money  on  the  strength  of  invented 
statements  is  sometimes  possible,  particularly  for  her  with 


76  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

her  good  presence  and  convincing  manner.  The  B.'s  com- 
plained that  when  she  left  Tennessee  there  were  in  her  trunk 
many  dollars'  worth  of  articles  that  belonged  to  them. 

Throughout  our  long  experience  with  Inez  we  have  never 
been  able  to  make  up  our  mind  whether  or  not  she  remem- 
bered all  of  her  past.  Her  lying  always  stood  in  the  way  of 
getting  at  anything  like  the  real  facts.  On  no  occasion  lias 
she  truthfully  dealt  with  her  career  as  we  know  it.  She 
has  professed  absolute  lack  of  knowledge  of  her  accident,  and 
of  the  time  and  place  of  its  occurrence.  It  is  interesting  that 
none  of  her  acquaintances  mention  this.  Although  Inez  has 
told  long  stories  of  her  past  to  many  people,  and  with  some 
inclusion  of  truth,  she  never  seems  to  have  mentioned  this 
important  event  of  which  we  learned  from  her  family.  We 
cannot,  then,  decide  about  possible  amnesia  for  this  occur- 
rence. 

On  occasion  Inez  has  expressed  the  same  desire  for  reli- 
gious experience  as  for  education,  and  has  written  to  friends 
that  she  had  become  imbued  with  the  Spirit.  Her  story  of 
her  religious  upbringing  is  altogether  unreliable  and  contra- 
dictory, but  while  in  one  hospital  she  professed  belief,  took 
communion,  and  was  baptized  in  a  certain  faith.  Her 
behavior  was  not,  however,  in  the  least  modified  by  this. 

One  serious  minded  woman  took  Inez  at  her  word  when 
she  said  she  wanted  to  study  algebra  and  offered  her  a  good 
opportunity  which  was  never  accepted.  This  demonstrated 
clearly  that  the  desire  was  a  matter  of  words  only.  Inez* 
constant  assertion  of  independence  has  been  one  of  her 
main  sources  of  temporary  success.  Kindly  people  have 
speedily  taken  up  with  her.  Sympathy  is  undoubtedly, 
in  spite  of  her  statements  to  the  contrary,  one  of  the  strongest 
needs  of  her  nature.  In  one  of  her  letters  we  note  her  expres- 
sion of  satisfaction  in  a  certain  situation  where  she  found 


PATHOLOGICAL  LYING  AND  SWINDLING    77 

herself  much  "mothered"  by  kind  nurses.  All  her  chances, 
however,  have  been  spoiled  by  her  indulgence  in  lies. 

Inez  has  remained  adamant  to  every  plea  and  suggestion 
made  by  many  well-wishing  friends  that  she  reform  and 
begin  again.  After  her  parents  and  other  relatives  were 
found  and  communicated  with,  her  career  partly  known, 
and  her  mother's  need  of  sympathy  shown  to  her,  she  still 
refused  to  change  her  story  in  many  particulars  —  even 
when  she  knew  that  we  had  discovered  about  her  writing 
home  within  recent  months.  She  steadily  refused  to  ac- 
knowledge her  true  age.  When  the  evidence  was  complete, 
showing  that  she  could  not  be  held  as  a  runaway  girl,  but 
must  be  treated  under  the  law  as  a  woman,  she  went  forth 
to  begin,  as  we  heard  from  many  other  sources,  her  old 
misrepresentations  of  herself,  which  speedily  got  her  into 
further  trouble. 

We  were  not  astonished,  even  after  we  had  accumulated 
almost  the  entire  knowledge  of  the  career  which  we  have 
outlined  above,  and  Inez  knew  that  we  had  done  so,  to  be 
visited  by  two  fine  philanthropic  women  who  wanted  to 
consult  with  us  about  an  unfortunate  girl  who  had  won 
their  sympathy,  and  who  had  been  placed  by  them  in  a 
leading  hospital  after  having  shown  some  signs  of  acute 
bronchitis.  In  fact,  she  was  in  such  a  bad  condition  that 
she  had  to  be  transferred  in  an  ambulance.  But  her  ill- 
ness had  rapidly  cleared  up  and  now  after  ten  days  of  obser- 
vation an  eminent  diagnostician  had  thoroughly  scolded  her 
for  simulation,  and  the  girl  was  once  more  on  their  hands. 
Indirectly  they  learned  that  we  knew  of  the  case  of  this 
"girl  of  16."  They  realized  that  they  had  been  taken  in, 
but  it  had  been  done  so  cleverly,  and,  as  they  expressed  it, 
Inez  showed  herself  such  a  splendid  actress,  that  they  won- 
dered if  she  had  not  extraordinary  histrionic  abilities  which 
could  be  utilized.  (It  remains  to  be  seen  whether  anything 


78  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

constructive  can  be  done  by  following  this  lead.  We  feel 
that  previous  psychiatrists  who  gave  earlier  an  unfavorable 
prognosis  in  this  case  were  perhaps  quite  right.  But  per- 
haps we  should  not  let  our  opinions  in  this  be  swayed  by  the 
fact  that  my  associate,  Dr.  Bronner,  who  went  to  this  last 
hospital  was  met  by  an  absolute  denial  on  the  part  of  Inez 
of  the  essentials  of  the  above  career,  by  her  insistence  that 
she  was  not  the  same  person  as  the  daughter  of  the  Smiths, 
and  that  she  was  only  17  —  all  this  in  spite  of  her  knowledge 
of  our  correspondence  with  her  family  and  others,  and  her 
own  previous  acknowledgments  of  lying.) 

Summary:  In  summarizing  the  characteristics  of  this 
woman  we  may  first  insist  that  she  has  ambition,  push,  and 
energy  in  high  degree.  Her  personality  as  expressed  in 
general  bearing,  features,  and  facial  action  is  remarkably 
strong  and  convincing.  Her  ambition  was  shown  in  her 
work  on  our  tests  as  well  as  in  her  social  behavior.  (We 
have  wondered  if  it  was  not  her  desire  to  sliino  which  pre- 
vented the  typical  performance  of  the  pathological  liar  on 
the  "Aussage"  test.)  Her  self-confidence  as  expressed  on 
numerous  occasions  is  no  less  striking.  "I  tell  you,  doctor, 
that  I  have  told  lies,  but  you  will  see  that  I  will  come  out 
on  top." 

Inez  has  been  free  from  the  overt  problems  of  sex  life. 
We  have  repeatedly  been  informed  that  she  has  boon  a  girl 
of  good  character  in  this  respect.  "I  ran  away  from  home 
for  a  good  cause.  I'm  not  one  of  those  girls  who  is  crazy 
about  the  boys."  Usually  Inez  shows  a  very  even  temper. 
It  is  only  when  her  own  personality  is  trod  upon  that  she 
grows  angry,  and  obstinacy  is  then  her  leading  reaction. 
Some  pathological  liars  may  be  weak  in  character,  but  not 
Inez.  She  is  the  firmest  of  persons.  On  occasions  her 
attitude  is  entirely  that  of  the  grand  lady. 


PATHOLOGICAL  LYING  AND  SWINDLING    79 

Her  type  of  lying  is  clearly  pathological.  It  would  often 
be  very  hard  to  discern  a  purpose  in  it,  and  over  and  over 
again  she  has  defeated  her  own  ends  by  further  indulgence 
in  prevarications.  To  her  the  utterance  of  lies  comes  just 
as  quickly  and  naturally  as  speaking  the  truth  comes  to 
other  people.  Even  in  interviews  with  us  when  she  was 
voluntarily  acknowledging  her  shortcomings  in  this  direc- 
tion she  went  on  in  the  same  breath  to  further  falsifications. 

The  medical  aspects  of  the  case  come  under  the  same  cate- 
gory as  the  lying.  The  dysuria,  the  spitting  of  blood,  the 
sugar  in  the  urine,  the  hairpins  found  twice  in  the  abdomen, 
the  simulated  pains,  neurasthenia,  and  bronchial  attacks, 
together  with  her  stories  of  accidents  and  fainting  spells 
illustrate  her  general  tendency.  This  behavior,  like  her 
lying,  serves  to  feed  her  egocentrism,  her  craving  for  sym- 
pathy and  for  being  the  center  of  action.  As  with  the 
lying,  repetition  of  this  type  of  conduct  probably  is  largely 
a  matter  of  habit. 

The  bearing  of  this  case  on  the  problems  of  testimony  is 
interesting.  As  shown  in  our  account  of  tests  done,  when 
objective  concrete  material  was  considered  by  this  woman 
she  reported  it  well.  It  is  only  when  her  egocentrism  is 
brought  into  play  that  she  becomes  so  definitely  unreliable. 
This  is  a  line  of  demarcation  that  students  of  this  subject 
would  do  well  to  recognize. 

Causative  Factors:  Our  study  of  causation  in  this  case, 
as  we  intimated  at  first,  is  necessarily  incomplete.  But 
some  things,  probably  explanatory,  stand  out  very  clearly. 
Heredity  is  moderately  defective.  Inez  was  the  outcome 
of  an  unfortunate  pregnancy  and  was  a  poorly  developed 
infant.  She  suffered  early  from  a  number  of  illnesses,  which, 
however,  left  no  perceptible  physical  defects.  Her  unusual 
relationship  to  the  other  children,  based  on  the  difference 
in  age,  was  perhaps  a  starting  point  for  the  development  of 


80  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

her  inventional  theories  of  her  own  origin.  She  has  given 
us  many  hints  of  this  in  speaking  of  her  earliest  remembrances 
of  hearing  the  Smiths  whispering  something  about  adoption, 
and  of  her  feeling  that  the  other  children  were  too  old  for 
her  to  belong  to  their  family. 

Then  we  insist  on  the  positive  bearing  which  this  woman's 
native  traits  have  had  in  the  production  of  her  career.  Her 
facility  with  language  marks  her  as  possessing  one  of  the 
chief  characteristics  of  the  pathological  liar.  Added  to 
this  she  showed  the  other  personal  traits  which  we  have 
described  in  detail,  leading  to  her  success  in  misrepresenting 
herself.  Her  strongly  developed  physiognomy  has  caused 
many  people  to  believe  her  older  than  she  stated,  but  still 
one  has  seen  such  lineaments  belonging  to  girls  of  17. 

The  bearing  which  the  accident  at  18  had  upon  the  case 
it  is  impossible  for  us  to  estimate.  Her  family  are  very  clear 
on  this  point;  they  maintain  that  all  her  bad  conduct  has 
developed  since  then.  Through  unwillingness,  or  barely 
possibly  real  amnesia  for  the  injury,  Inez  has  not  helped  us 
to  know  the  facts.  Dr.  Augusta  Bronner,  who  has  studied 
this  case  with  me,  cleverly  suggests  that  just  as  anyone 
becomes  confused  in  distinguishing  really  remembered  i 
riences  from  what  has  been  told  by  others  was  one's  experi- 
ence, so  Inez  gets  confused  between  what  has  really  happened 
and  what  she  herself  has  told  as  having  happened.  This 
finally  involves  a  pathological  liar  in  a  network  which  is 
difficult  to  untangle.  Part  of  the  causation  of  the  pr« 
lying,  then,  is  the  extensive  lying  which  has  been  done 
previously. 

Psychological  analysis  in  such  a  case  is  most  difficult 
because  of  the  unreliability  of  the  individual's  own  state- 
ments about  her  life,  inner  and  outer.  Psychoanalysts 
will  be  delighted,  in  the  light  of  what  we  long  afterward 
found  out,  at  the  pregnant  opening  sentence  of  ail  interview, 


PATHOLOGICAL  LYING  AND  SWINDLING    81 

recorded  above,  when  Inez  blurted  out  that  she  was  once  in 
a  State  hospital.  However,  from  what  we  ascertained,  we 
may  see  clearly  that  here  is  an  individual  with  a  past  that 
she  desires  to  cover  up.  Much  more  delinquency  may  be 
involved  of  which  we  know  nothing.  As  the  result  of  cir- 
cumstances and  traits  she  finds  herself,  despite  her  very 
good  ability,  inadequately  meeting  the  world.  Her  force- 
ful personality  carries  her  into  situations  which  she  is  in- 
competent to  live  up  to.  The  immediate  way  out  is  by 
creating  a  new  complication,  and  this  may  be  through  lies 
or  the  simulation  of  illness,  at  which  she  has  become  an 
adept.  Altogether,  Inez  must  be  thought  of  as  one  who  is 
trying  to  satisfy  certain  wishes  and  ambitions  which  are 
too  much  for  her  resources.  Towards  the  goal  to  which 
her  nature  urges  her  she  follows  the  path  of  least  resistance. 
Being  the  personality  that  she  is,  the  social  world  offers 
her  stimulation  which  does  not  come  to  others. 

To  discuss  the  problem  of  her  responsibility  would  be  to 
introduce  metaphysics  —  it  is  sure  that  in  the  ordinary  sense 
she  is  not  insane.  The  cause  of  her  career  is  not  a  psychosis, 
although  we  readily  grant  that  out  of  the  materials  of  her 
mental  experience  she  may  ultimately  build  up  definite 

delusions. 

CASE  4 

Summary:  A  girl  of  15  had  been  engaged  in  an  extraordinary 
amount  of  clever  shoplifting  under  the  influence  of  her 
"  mother."  In  the  courts  where  the  cases  against  her  were 
heard  there  was  much  sympathy  with  the  girl,  but  it  was  diffi- 
cult to  carry  out  any  measures  for  her  benefit  because  of  the 
excessive  prevarications  which  had  characterized  her  for  a  long 
period.  Under  oath  she  falsely  accused  her  "  father  "  of  sex 
immorality  with  her.  She  was  removed  from  her  home,  and  with 
knowledge  of  the  mental  conflicts  which  beset  her,  splendid 
efforts  to  "  cure  "  this  girl  met  with  success.  It  is  another  case 
where  supposed  inherited  traits  turn  out  to  be  the  result  of 
environmental  influences. 


82  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

Through  frequent  communication  with  the  highly  intelli- 
gent woman  with  whom  Edna  F.  was  placed  in  a  small 
western  city  after  she  was  taken  from  her  previous  miser- 
able environment,  we  have  been  able  to  keep  close  check 
on  the  progress  of  the  case  for  several  years.  It  was  also 
very  fortunate  for  our  understanding  that  a  nurse  who 
knew  the  girl's  real  mother  in  New  York,  where  Edna  was 
born,  appeared  on  the  scene  and  gave  us  data  upon  which 
we  could  base  some  opinions  of  the  outcome.  The  case 
in  its  entirety  had  proved  very  baffling  to  detectives  because 
of  the  mass  of  contradictory  lies  told  by  both  the  girl  and  her 
"mother." 

Our  attention  was  first  called  to  this  girl  when  a  number 
of  court  people  were  trying  to  solve  the  mystery.  She  had 
been  arrested  for  shoplifting  and  her  curious  attitude  and 
statements  had  made  some  believe  she  was  not  quite  right 
mentally.  Once  before  she  had  been  detected  stealing  things 
in  a  shop.  One  of  her  remarkable  statement^  this  last 
time  was  that  her  parents  were  implicated  in  the  thieving 
and  she  named  certain  stolen  articles  which  might  be  found 
at  their  home.  She  went  with  the  detectives  and  ac( 
her  "mother"  of  wearing  a  dress  which  she,  Edna,  had 
stolen.  The  woman  was  forced  to  give  up  the  dress  and  ot  her 
articles,  but  it  was  found  later  that  these  goods  had  been 
actually  bought  and  paid  for  by  the  parents.  Later  it  was 
found  that  the  woman  was  a  party  to  the  girl's  stealing  and 
this  made  the  girl's  story  seem  all  the  more  strange,  for  if 
she  were  going  to  involve  the  people  at  all  why  did  she  not 
pick  out  the  actually  stolen  articles?  However,  long  study 
of  the  case  brought  out  the  fact  that  this  type  of  statement 
was  a  characteristic  of  Edna's.  Her  word  on  even  important 
points  was  absolutely  unreliable  and  her  own  interests  were 
frequently  thwarted  by  her  prevarications. 

The  case  in  its  different  aspects  came  up  in  court  again  and 


PATHOLOGICAL  LYING  AND  SWINDLING    83 

again  until  finally  most  of  the  truth  was  ascertained,  enough 
to  justify  radical  measures  being  undertaken.  During  this 
period  the  mother  was  discovered  to  be  an  atrocious  liar ; 
even  with  her  last  bitter  confession  that  all  she  had  said 
about  her  motherhood  had  been  untrue,  she  manufactured 
more  quite  unnecessary  falsehoods.  In  the  meantime  the 
family  physician  and  the  family  lawyer  had  both  informed 
me  of  the  peculiar  mysteries  of  the  case  and  of  the  perfect 
mass  of  lies  into  which  the  statements  of  both  mother  and 
daughter  led.  This  sort  of  thing  had  been  going  on  for 
years.  It  is  of  no  small  interest  to  note  that  the  woman  was 
greatly  over-dressed  and  made  up.  On  numerous  occasions 
she  appealed  to  us  to  study  the  girl  and  find  out  why  she 
lied  so  much  and  why  she  had  such  an  inclination  to  steal, 
in  the  meantime  attempting  to  fill  us  up  with  many  inven- 
tions about  the  girl's  antecedents. 

Physical  examination  showed  a  perfectly  normally  de- 
veloped girl.  No  sensory  defects.  Pleasant  features.  Well 
shaped  head.  Weight  101  Ibs ;  height  5  ft.  1  in.  We  found 
no  hysterical  stigmata.  Menstruation  had  first  occurred 
at  14.  No  trouble  or  irregularity  was  reported.  We  learn 
the  girl  has  never  had  any  serious  illness.  She  herself 
told  of  fainting  spells  after  being  whipped  and  so  on,  but 
these  were  undoubtedly  falsifications.  The  family  physician 
informed  us  he  had  operated  on  the  girl  for  appendicitis 
about  three  months  previous  to  the  time  we  first  saw  her. 
He  had  found  some  evidences  of  an  old  appendiceal  inflamma- 
tion, but  it  is  quite  likely  from  the  various  accounts  which 
we  heard  that  her  symptoms  recounted  to  him  were  largely 
fabrication  and  that  the  signs  which  he  found,  at  least  in 
their  excessive  phases,  were  partly  deceptions.  The  most 
important  point  for  the  court  proceedings  was  his  findings 
that  the  girl  had  never  been  sexually  tampered  with  and  had 
no  local  disease.  At  the  time  when  we  knew  Edna  she  was 


84  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

being  treated  for  a  local  infection  which  must  have  been 
recent  and  superficial,  for  it  rapidly  subsided. 

We  had  ample  opportunity  to  test  Edna's  ability  and 
found  it  quite  normal.  She  had  been  out  of  school  much 
and  had  been  careless  in  general  about  her  education,  but 
she  had  finally  finished  the  grammar  school.  A  long  list 
of  tests  was  done  almost  uniformly  well.  Where  a  prolonged 
task  which  required  concentration  was  asked,  Edna  was 
inclined  to  work  carelessly,  but  in  general  her  capacities 
proved  to  be  decidedly  good.  She  was  accustomed  to  read 
nothing  but  the  lightest  literature  and  fairy  stories  and  her 
interests  were  of  the  superficial  sort.  Neither  in  powers  of 
imagery  or  imagination,  nor  by  anything  else  ascertained 
about  her  meatal  abilities  did  we  come  to  know  of  any  point 
of  special  bearing  upon  her  behavior. 

On  the  "Aussage"  picture  test,  she  gave  only  12  details, 
all  correct,  on  free  recital.  Upon  questioning  she  gave  28 
more  items  and  almost  the  only  variation  from  accuracy 
was  in  respect  to  the  colors.  Evidently  she  lot  lior  fancy  run 
when  she  could  not  remember  correctly;  through  this  she 
got  6  items  incorrect.  She  readily  accepted  3  out  of  4 
suggestions. 

Our  earliest  impressions  of  Edna  state  that  she  seemed 
much  confused  in  her  stories  and  in  her  manner  of  telling 
them,  leaving  sentences  unfinished  and  trying  to  explain 
inconsistencies  by  other  inconsistencies.  At  this  time  she 
was  referring  constantly  to  her  doubts  about  her  age,  her 
family,  and  her  origin.  She  then  seemed  highly  suspicions 
of  every  one  and  talked  of  suicide.  However,  when  she 
was  showing  these  signs  she  could  be  diverted,  for  she  worked 
with  much  pleasure  at  the  tests,  particularly  certain  memory 
tests  on  which  she  did  well. 

On  account  of  the  difficulties  of  the  solution  of  this 
under  the  law  considerable  time  and  effort  were  spent  in 


PATHOLOGICAL  LYING  AND  SWINDLING    85 

looking  up  her  record.  It  was  found  that  some  years  ago 
Edna  had  run  away  from  home  and  there  was  a  newspaper 
article  published  about  her.  Even  at  that  time  an  officer 
who  went  to  the  home  was  unable  to  ascertain  the  truth  in 
the  case.  The  family  had  frequently  moved  and  the  mother 
asserted  it  was  because  of  the  bad  reputation  which  the 
girl's  actions  had  given  them.  The  neighbors  complained 
of  the  cruelty  of  the  parents  to  Edna,  but  this  meant  only 
the  whippings  which  the  mother  had  given  her.  By  all 
accounts  the  father  was  a  good  man  who  insisted  that  affairs 
between  his  wife  and  Edna  were  not  his  own.  (Edna  always 
maintained  that  this  man  had  been  unusually  good  to  her, 
although  she  so  strangely  made  in  court  the  false  accusations 
of  prolonged  sex  immorality  on  his  part  and  reiterated  these 
statements  even  to  us.  It  was  not  until  many  months 
afterward  that  she  acknowledged  the  falsity  of  her  accusa- 
tions, although  we  knew  from  her  physician  that  they  were 
not  true.) 

The  first  time  Edna  was  in  court  was  when  she  was  about 
14  years  old.  At  that  time  she  had  been  observed  by  a 
department  store  detective  stealing  hosiery  and  a  bracelet. 
She  perceived  she  was  being  shadowed  and  walked  up  to  the 
counter  and  ordered  some  children's  garments,  having  them 
charged  and  sent  to  a  fictitious  name  and  address.  The 
detective  thought  this  a  masterpiece  of  slyness,  this  en- 
deavor to  throw  them  off  the  track.  Since  the  family,  who 
really  kept  an  account  at  this  store,  appealed  to  the  manager 
to  have  Edna  let  off  as  it  was  an  ordinary  trick  of  a  growing 
girl,  the  charge  was  withdrawn.  Detectives  who  had  been 
employed  from  a  private  agency  made  a  very  poor  showing 
on  getting  at  the  real  facts.  The  husband  was  doing  well 
in  his  business  and  there  never  seemed  to  be  any  reason 
to  suspect  his  wife  of  being  directly  or  indirectly  connected 
with  the  shoplifting.  Earlier  there  was  some  intimation 


86  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

that  Edna  was  not  the  child  of  these  people,  but  the  persons 
who  suggested  this  did  not  know  the  true  facts  and  were 
found  to  have  a  grudge  against  the  mother.  In  the  mean- 
time the  latter  had  strongly  maintained  her  relationship. 

It  was  months  after  this  and  just  before  we  saw  the  case 
when  a  detective,  who  had  kept  the  case  in  mind,  went  to 
the  house  to  get  the  goods  which  Edna  maintained  had  been 
stolen.  There  he  found  the  "mother"  and  another  woman 
smoking  and  thought  he  detected  signs  of  their  being  drug 
habitues.  Later,  I  myself  felt  sure  of  this  point,  but  we 
were  never  able  to  state  to  what  drug  they  were  addicted. 
Edna  frequently  stated  she  had  been  accustomed  to  buying 
morphine  for  these  women,  but  her  statements  about  its 
appearance  and  its  cost  were  so  at  variance  with  the  facts 
that  though  it  is  likely  she  had  bought  something  of  the 
kind,  yet  no  amount  of  inquiry  brought  out  the  definite 
facts.  The  woman's  appearance  and  her  remarkable  lack 
of  veracity  were  both  highly  suggestive  of  a  drug  habit. 

In  our  several  interviews  with  this  woman  we  were  amazed 
by  her  strange  self-contradictions.  It  was  not  only  that 
she  stated  something  different  from  what  she  had  said  a 
week  before,  but  even  at  different  times  on  the  same  day 
her  statements  would  be  changed.  Concerning  her.  rela- 
tionship to  Edna  she  gave  us  the  facts  of  the  girl's  birth 
and  laughed  off  the  idea  that  she  was  not  the  girl's  mother. 
"Why,  I  can  remember  every  moment  of  my  pregnancy 
with  her."  It  was  anomalous  that  this  woman  had  hired 
a  righteous  man  as  a  lawyer  to  represent  her  and  the  girl. 
This  attorney,  consulting  with  me,  soon  came  to  the  con- 
clusion that  the  only  interest  he  would  serve  in  the  case  was 
that  of  the  girl,  and  then  only  in  the  effort  to  save  her  from 
the  miserable  influences  of  her  mother. 

Edna's  school  record  was  most  peculiar.  She  had  been 
frequently  changed  on  account  of  her  dishonesty.  In  one 


PATHOLOGICAL  LYING  AND  SWINDLING    87 

sectarian  school  she  was  said  to  steal  all  sorts  of  useless 
things  —  bits  of  string,  pieces  of  pencils,  and  articles  no  one 
else  would  want.  She  also  stole  a  two  dollar  bill  from  a 
grocery  store;  the  cashier  followed  her  and  recovered  the 
money  from  her  person  right  there  in  the  school.  Edna 
always  denied  that  she  took  things.  While  in  another 
school  she  had  flowers  sent  to  all  the  teachers  and  the  florist's 
bill  was  presented  to  her  there.  In  still  another  school  she 
took  a  pair  of  shoes  from  a  boy  at  recess,  wore  these  and  left 
her  old  ones  in  the  locker  room.  Her  word  was  everywhere 
recognized  as  being  most  unreliable. 

After  the  case  had  long  been  in  court  and  Edna  still  stoutly 
maintained  that  she  was  not  the  child  of  these  parents,  but 
had  complicated  her  story  by  adding  incidents  which  were 
known  to  be  untrue,  such  as  her  "father's"  immorality  with 
her,  that  there  had  been  another  adopted  child  in  the  family, 
that  even  the  dishes  the  family  used  were  stolen  by  her,  and 
so  on,  the  woman  came  and  suddenly  blurted  out  that  she 
herself  had  been  lying  all  along  and  that  this  was  not  her 
child.  She  then  alleged  the  parentage  was  so  and  so,  but 
this  matter  was  in  turn  looked  up  and  found  to  be  false. 
It  was  adjudged  that  these  people  had  absolutely  no  parental 
rights,  and  then  work  was  begun  on  constructive  measures 
of  redeeming  the  girl  if  possible.  It  was  not  long  after 
this  that  the  nurse  came  to  us  who  had  known  the  girl's 
real  mother  in  New  York  and  who  had  taken  charge  of 
Edna  as  an  infant  before  her  foster  mother  had  taken  her. 
It  seems  that  the  mother  was  an  American,  that  this  child 
was  illegitimate.  A  few  months  after  her  birth  the  mother 
abandoned  her,  became  dissolute  and  is  said  to  have  since 
died. 

Edna  had  run  away  from  home  on  several  occasions  and 
slept  in  hallways  for  a  night  or  two  at  a  time.  She  had 
not  been  sexually  immoral  until  just  previous  to  our  seeing 


88  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

her.  Then  while  away  from  home  she  had  gone  with  a 
man  to  a  hotel,  and  probably  had  also  been  with  boys. 
These  were  her  first  and  last  experiences  of  the  sort,  but  how 
much  these  affairs  had  been  on  her  mind  we  obtained  some 
intimation  of  from  herself. 

"My  mother  took  me  to  S's  when  I  was  8  years  old  and 
told  me  to  take  anything  I  could  and  I  got  into  the  habit  of 
it.  I  can't  stop  myself.  I  take  anything  I  want.  Mother 
said  she  would  kill  me  if  I  told  the  truth.  I  had  to  say  lots 
of  things  that  were  not  so.  I  had  to  lie  and  say  mother  did 
not  beat  me,  but  she  had  a  horsewhip  that  was  plaited, 
father  burned  it.  Then  they  bought  a  little  one,  but  she 
beat  me  with  a  rubber  hose  and  everything.  The  first 
thing  I  think  I  stole  was  jewelry  in  a  store  down-town. 
The  woman  I  call  '  auntie '  said  if  I  would  give  her  the  goods 
she  would  pay  me  for  them." 

"My  mother  fixed  it  up  that  if  she  got  the  goods  and  got 
caught  she  would  get  a  clerk  to  make  out  receipts  and  get 
them  stamped  paid.  She  has  not  done  this  yet,  but  I  think 
she  will  in  this  case."  (This  was  a  statement  at  the  very 
first  interview  with  Edna  and  no  doubt  had  reference  to 
the  fact  that  the  mother  could  produce  receipted  bills  for 
the  dress  and  other  articles  which  Edna  had  maintained  to 
the  detective  she  herself  had  stolen.  Of  course  the  girl's 
story  of  this  was  untrue ;  the  receipts  were  genuine.) 

"One  of  my  sisters  is  adopted,  but  my  father  does  not 
know  it.  She  ain't  real.  It  was  this  way.  When  my  pa 
was  out  west  for  a  year  ma  asked  me  to  look  in  the  papers 
for  a  baby  and  I  looked  and  found  an  advertisement  about 
one.  Ma  said  she  must  not  be  redheaded  because  that  ain't 
like  the  family.  We  went  and  got  her  and  ma  went  to  bed 
for  nine  days  and  pretended  it  was  her  baby.  She  took  a 
shawl  and  gave  the  nurse  $25  and  made  out  adoption  papers. 
She  took  me  with  her.  It  was  a  month  old.  She  made  me 


PATHOLOGICAL  LYING  AND  SWINDLING    89 

go  and  tell  my  aunt  I  had  a  little  sister.  My  aunt  said  it 
looked  kind  of  big  for  3  days  old,  but  ma  said  she  had  been 
keeping  it  in  an  incubator.  She  had  padded  herself  out 
before,  and  pretended  it  was  her  own  child.  Pa  came  home 
when  it  was  six  months  old  and  he  loved  the  baby  just  like 
his  own.  I  ain't  jealous,  but  it  makes  me  sick  to  hear  such 
lies." 

This  alleged  fact,  reiterated  to  us  and  testified  to  in  the 
court,  was  in  itself  a  source  of  the  whole  case  being  farther 
followed  up.  The  nurse  was  found  who  took  care  of  Edna's 
"mother"  during  her  confinement  and  it  was  .found  that 
Edna's  whole  story ~ was  quite  untrue.  It  was  evidently  an 
elaborate  fabrication  representing  the  facts  as  they  might 
have  been  about  Edna  herself.  The  only  part  of  it  that  was 
true  was  that  one  of  the  younger  children  had  been  for  a 
time  in  an  incubator. 

"Since  I  was  10  years  old  I  have  known  about  that.  I 
have  known  I  was  not  her  child.  She  said  something  that 
sounded  queer  to  me  once  when  I  ran  away.  It  made  me 
think  she  was  not  my  mother. 

"Why  do  I  tell  lies  ?  I  got  started  at  it  when  I  was  small. 
She  used  to  make  me  tell  lies  to  my  father.  I  began  to  steal 
when  I  was  about  8  years  old.  My  little  sister  has  started 
to  take  things  already.  She  is  only  4.  I  was  trying  to 
break  her  and  mother  said,  'Let  her  alone.' 

"She's  had  about  nine  different  servants.  She  never 
can  keep  any.  She  used  to  make  me  forge  letters.  She 
made  me  sign  a  girl's  name  to  a  receipt  for  wages  which  the 
girl  never  received.  The  girl  had  no  case  against  her  be- 
cause she  had  the  receipts.  The  poor  girl  lost  it. 

"I  am  going  to  tell  the  truth.  There's  going  to  be  lots 
of  things  come  out.  I  am  going  to  tell  the  judge  I  lied  when 
I  told  him  I  did  not  steal  the  things.  Why  did  I  lie  ?  Well, 
she  gave  me  just  one  look  and  I  knew  what  she  would  do  to 


90  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

me  when  I  got  home.  Everything  I  told  you  about  my  father 
is  the  truth.  Where  else  would  I  get  that  disease?  I  was 
never  allowed  to  go  out  with  boys." 

At  another  time  when  we  inquired  what  bothered  or  worried 
her  more  than  anything  else  we  obtained  an  account  of  her 
sex  repressions.  Of  course  there  would  always  be  difficulty 
in  knowing  just  how  true  the  details  were  but  probably  she 
gave  us  the  main  factors  in  her  mental  life. 

"I  used  to  be  out  in  the  streets  all  the  time.  There  were 
hardly  any  houses  around  there  then.  I  used  to  hear 
mother  talk  about  things.  She  would  send  me  out  of  the 
room  and  say  it  was  not  for  me  to  hear.  Then  boys  lived 
near  me  and  they  asked  me  to  do  bad  things.  I  first  heard 
about  those  things  from  a  boy  on  the  porch.  I  was  7  or 
8.  I  was  always  thinking  about  it  —  what  my  mother  said 
at  that  time,  I  mean.  She  did  not  explain  it  enough.  I 
am  always  fidgety,  always  nervous.  My  hands  and  fcvt 
are  always  going.  Whenever  I  would  see  a  boy  it  would 
always  come  up  in  front  of  my  eyes.  It  was  mostly  when 
I  saw  boys.  If  she  had  explained  it  more  it  would  not  have 
come  up  that  way.  I  know  a  girl  who  does  that  thing. 
She's  bad.  She  does  it  with  boys  too.  The  people  said 
so.  When  I  was  little  I  imagined  there  were  some  bad  ^irls. 
You  can't  tell,  but  you  can  guess  a  little.  That  boy  had 
lots  of  things.  I  don't  know  if  he  took  anything.  It  was 
when  I  was  about  4  until  I  was  8  that  I  played  with  him. 
These  things  never  came  up  in  my  mind  when  I  was  taking 
things.  It  was  only  when  I  was  not  busy.  I  was  always 
thinking  about  it  when  I  haven't  anything  else  to  do.  These 
few  little  words  were  not  enough  to  explain.  I  remember 
I  asked  my  aunt  once.  I  tried  to  put  things  together  what 
I  heard,  and  what  words  about  it  meant." 

The  above  excerpts  from  many  interviews  with  this  girl 
represent  points  upon  which  there  is  the  least  contradiction. 


PATHOLOGICAL  LYING  AND  SWINDLING     91 

It  is  obviously  useless  to  give  any  more  of  her  story  because 
of  the  variation  from  time  to  time.  Even  on  the  last  occa- 
sion when  we  talked  earnestly  to  her  before  she  was  taken 
to  her  new  home,  she  lied  to  us  about  a  number  of  points. 
Any  attempt  at  an  accurate  analysis  of  her  impulse  to  steal 
seemed  quite  beyond  the  mark  in  the  light  of  her  ever-ready 
fabrications. 

The  after-history  of  this  case  is  of  the  utmost  importance. 
A  woman  of  strong  character  took  Edna  and  surrounded 
her  with  new  interests.  Conference  was  had  with  us  on  the 
nature  of  the  case.  For  the  next  few  months  reports  came 
that  the  girl  was  a  liar  through  and  through  and  grave 
doubts  were  entertained  of  ultimate  success.  It  was  after 
she  had  been  tried  in  her  new  environment  for  3  months 
that,  seeing  us  again,  she  confessed  that  her  stories  about 
her  foster  father  were  absolutely  untrue.  From  about  this 
time  on  there  has  been  steady  improvement.  No  more 
elaborate  fabrications  have  been  indulged  in.  On  several 
occasions  when  Edna  has  been  late  from  school  she  has 
lied  about  it,  but  even  that  tendency  for  the  last  year 
has  been  nearly  obliterated.  A  good  deal  of  interest  in 
boys  has  been  maintained,  but  not  with  any  show  of 
immorality.  There  has  been  nothing  but  normal  flirt- 
ing; accounting  for  the  occasions  when  Edna  has  been 
late  from  school. 

At  two  or  three  periods  during  her  new  life  Edna  has 
engaged  in  stealing.  She  has  taken  articles  for  which  she 
had  no  particular  use  and  has  told  lies  about  the  matter. 
The  thieving  has  not  been  a  single  event,  but  each  time  has 
seemed  to  represent  a  state  of  mind  she  has  been  in,  and 
for  a  week  or  so  numerous  articles  have  been  taken.  We 
warned  her  good  friend  to  make  a  study  of  her  social  and 
mental  influences  at  such  periods.  It  was  found  then  that 
Edna  was  undergoing  special  stress  on  at  least  one  such 


92  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

occasion.  A  young  man  had  been  making  up  to  her,  and 
later  she  confided  that  this  given  period  was  one  of  great 
turmoil  because  of  the  renewed  arousal  of  many  ideas  about 
sex  affairs.  After  this  there  was  still  more  attempts  to  win 
Edna's  confidence  about  her  daily  experiences,  including 
such  as  the  above.  There  has  been  the  gradual  develop- 
ment of  character,  and  Edna  is  now,  two  years  after  she 
was  taken  from  her  bad  environment,  only  very  occa- 
sionally guilty  of  falsifying,  and  she  is  otherwise  trust- 
worthy. 

Our  study  of  the  causative  factors  of  this  girl's  delinquency 
and  particularly  of  her  extraordinary  lying  led  us  to  see  that 
perhaps  all  of  the  following  have  a  part:  (a)  Heredity. 
Father  unknown.  Mother  a  free-living  woman.  (6)  Home 
conditions.  Mental  and  moral  bad  influences  in  the  home 
life  on  account  of  the  foster  mother  conniving  at  stealing 
and  being  herself  an  extreme  liar,  (c)  Psychic  contagion 
from  the'  at  inosphere  of  lies  in  which  the  girl  has  been  brought 
up.  (d)  Mental  conflict  arising  from  the  suspicion  of  IKT 
parentage,  early  acquaintance  with  sex  knowledge,  and  the 
irregular  morale  of  her  home  life,  (e)  Bad  companions, 
including  her  foster  mother's  friends,  and  boys  and  girls. 


Mental  Conflict.  Case  4. 

Girl,  age  15  yrs. 
Home  influences :    Extremely  bad,  including 

excessive  lying. 
Bad  companions. 
Heredity  (?). 

Delinquencies :  Mentality : 

Much  stealing.     (Shop  lifting,  etc.)  Fair  ability. 

Excessive  lying.     False  accusations. 
Sex  immorality. 


PATHOLOGICAL  LYING  AND  SWINDLING    93 

CASE  5 

Summary:  A  young  woman  of  20,  bright  mentally,  strong 
physically,  "  confessed  "  to  a  professor  of  a  university  where  she 
was  studying  that  she  had  shot  and  killed  a  man.  The  facts  were 
known  to  only  three  or  four  people  and  she  was  terribly  worried 
about  it  all.  Upon  her  information  the  affair  was  taken  up  by  a 
group  of  professional  men,  one  of  them  a  lawyer  of  large  practical 
experience.  She  aided  in  an  investigation  which  attempted  to 
uncover  the  "  white  slave  "  feature  of  the  case.  The  data  of 
verification  proved  most  elusive.  Later,  the  young  woman 
implicated  herself  in  a  burglary,  and  altogether  an  elaborate 
story  of  her  life  was  evolved.  It  was  found  that  from  early  years 
she  had  been  a  great  fabricator. 

While  a  first  year  student  at  a  university  Marie  M.  begged 
for  an  interview  with  one  of  her  instructors  at  his  home  and 
there,  with  him  and  others,  she  told  a  detailed  story  of  how 
some  months  previously  she  had  escaped  a  difficult  situation 
by  killing  a  man. 

The  exceedingly  long  account  which  was  given  at  intervals 
to  several  professional  men  and  enlarged  upon  in  response  to 
inquiry,  or  as  the  occasion  otherwise  demanded,  we  are  not 
justified  in  taking  space  to  retell.  This  case  figures,  as  a 
whole,  in  somewhat  anecdotal  fashion  among  our  others,  we 
freely  confess ;  it  is  cited  to  show  the  extent  to  which  ap- 
parently purposeless  fabrication  can  go.  It  has  been  found 
impossible  to  gain  a  satisfactory  idea  of  the  genesis  of  this 
young  woman's  tendency,  quite  in  contrast  to  the  other 
cases  we  have  cited.  It  forms  the  only  instance  where  we 
have  drawn  from  our  experience  with  merely  partially 
studied  cases. 

Marie's  story  involved  many  items  of  her  life  since  she  was 
about  12  years  of  age.  A  distant  relative  who  had  come 
to  know  her  whereabouts  (she  was  an  orphan  living  with 
friends)  figured  extensively  in  her  narrative.  This  relative  had 


94  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

hounded  her  in  an  effort  to  get  her  to  engage  in  an  evil  life. 
His  attentions  varied  greatly  ;  sometimes  for  months  she  was 
not  bothered  with  him.  Once  when  she  was  on  her  way  to 
Milwaukee  a  gray  haired  man  approached  her  on  the  train, 
said  he  knew  her  relatives,  they  were  rather  a  bad  lot  of 
people,  and  he  wanted  to  protect  her  from  them.  Then 
came  a  long  account  of  being  driven  in  a  carriage,  changing 
her  clothes  in  a  hotel,  having  her  picture  taken  in  an  im- 
modest costume,  signing  a  paper  at  police  headquarters, 
and,  at  last,  safely  returning  home,  all  guided  by  the  myste- 
rious gray  haired  man.  Another  trip  led  to  an  encounter 
with  a  man  who  took  her  in  an  automobile  under  the  promise 
of  meeting  a  friend.  Entering  a  building  where  men  carried 
revolvers  and  girls  were  given  hypodermic  injections,  just 
as  she  was  about  to  receive  the  needle  in  her  arm,  she  reached 
the  man's  revolver  and  shot  him  in  the  back.  Events 
follow  swiftly  in  her  tale,  but  all  is  thoroughly  coherent,  and 
a  number  of  facts  are  included  which  could  be  substantiated. 
The  professional  men  could  not  help  being  impressed  and 
spent  much  valuable  time  before  they  felt  convinced  that  it 
was  a  fabrication.  The  exact  locations  could  not  be  dis- 
covered, but  then  Marie  was  a  stranger  in  the  city. 

When  we  saw  her  the  whole  story  was  reiterated  with  but 
few  changes,  which,  however,  from  the  standpoint  of  testi- 
mony were  most  important.  We  soon  found  we  could  get 
direct  testimony  on  physical  features  which  were  provably 
untrue.  For  instance,  the  description  of  a  certain  hallway 
in  a  building  where  she  had  gone  with  one  of  the  men  in- 
terested in  the  events  was  totally  unlike  anything  that  e\i>ted 
there.  Then,  too,  certain  embellishments,  which  by  this 
time  included  the  payment  of  a  large  check  to  her  as  hush 
money,  a  check  which  she  as  easily  gave  away  again,  seemed 
altogether  improbable.  Marie  by  this  time  was  implicating 
herself  in  a  burglary  with  this  relative,  and  some  other 


PATHOLOGICAL  LYING  AND  SWINDLING    95 

curious  incidents  were  given.  In  all  of  these,  as  we  later 
found,  there  was  a  central  event  about  which  her  statements 
might  have  been  true.  There  was  such  a  burglary ;  she  had 
said  in  previous  years  that  she  was  hounded  by  a  man,  and 
so  on.  We,  too,  were  struck  by  the  uselessness  and  lack  of 
purpose  in  the  lying  —  for  we  soon  felt  assured  that  it  was 
such. 

Physically  we  found  Marie  to  be  a  decidedly  good  speci- 
men. She  weighed  about  140  Ibs.  Strong  and  firm  in 
carriage.  Vivacious  in  expression.  The  physical  examina- 
tion at  the  university  had  shown  her  to  be  without  notable 
defect  of  any  kind.  We  can  summarize  Marie's  characteris- 
tics by  stating  that  from  the  earliest  age  of  which  we  can  get 
satisfactory  record,  when  she  was  about  10  years  old,  she  has 
been  persistently  addicted  to  falsehoods.  Even  then  she 
made  up,  without  any  basis,  stories  which  puzzled  many 
people.  It  is  much  to  the  point  that  she  has  been  a  great 
loser  on  account  of  this  tendency ;  it  has  injured  her  repu- 
tation on  numerous  occasions  and  destroyed  many  of  her 
good  chances.  When  she  was  about  15  it  was  noticed  that 
she  was  a  great  day-dreamer.  She  thought  she  could 
write  stories  and  once  began  a  novel.  Much  more  peculiar 
than  this  was  the  fact  that  she  repeatedly  wrote  letters  to 
her  friends  which  were  simply  a  mass  of  fabrications,  de- 
scribing such  things  as  imaginary  excursions. 

Tests  for  mental  ability  were  not  given  in  this  case,  there 
was  no  need  for  it.  Her  marks  in  the  preparatory  course 
were  just  fair.  It  had  been  noted  by  her  teachers,  as  well  as 
by  her  foster  parents,  that  she  was  prone  to  have  periods 
when  attention  to  her  work  seemed  difficult.  Aside  from 
her  peculiarities,  which  showed  themselves  entirely  in  her 
fabricating  tendency  and  her  assumed  illnesses,  nothing 
much  out  of  the  way  in  her  mental  life  had  ever  been  noted. 
On  several  occasions  she  had  taken  to  her  bed,  but  when  a 


90  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

physician  was  called,  a  diagnosis  was  given  of  simulation,  or 
hysteria.  Nothing  like  major  hysterical  attacks  at  any  time 
occurred. 

From  most  excellent  sources  of  information  we  have  ob- 
tained an  account  of  the  family  history.  No  instance  of 
insanity  is  known,  but  it  is  said  there  is  much  evidence  of 
ignorance  and  superstition.  Marie's  mother  bore  a  good 
character,  but  was  decidedly  ignorant.  At  about  the  age 
of  50  she  made  a  homicidal  attack  upon  a  second  husband 
and  then  killed  herself.  The  father  was  an  industrious  and 
sober  laborer,  but  unable  to  support  his  large  family.  At 
his  death  in  Marie's  early  childhood  the  family  was  broken 
up  and  the  ten  children  were  distributed  about.  None  of 
the  children  is  said  to  be  abnormal  mentally,  but  there  ha> 
been  a  tendency  to  free  living,  even  on  the  part  of  the  older 
sisters.  It  seems  very  sure  that  no  other  member  of  the 
family  was  given  to  telling  false  stories.  The  brothers  have 
been  inclined  to  be  shiftless  and  to  roam,  but  then  the 
environmental  conditions  often  have  been  against  them. 
However,  some  of  them  have  done  well.  In  general,  as  far 
as  Marie  is  concerned,  it  may  be  said  early  home  environ- 
ment was  not  bad  except  on  account  of  poverty.  Marie 
bears  no  traces  of  having  suffered  from  defective  conditions 
before  or  after  birth.  Her  early  developmental  history 
appears  to  be  negative.  She  has  lived  about  in  several 
different  homes,  the  longest  stay  being  about  seven  \< 
In  one  place  she  was  suspected  of  masturbation,  but  \ve 
were  unable  to  get  a  perfectly  definite  statement  that  she 
was  addicted  to  the  habit. 

Two  years  prior  to  the  time  we  knew  Marie  she  had 
worked  up  a  story  of  adventure  in  which  she  was  the  heroine. 
She  used  the  telephone  to  call  for  help,  stating  that  she  stood 
with  a  revolver  covering  a  burglar.  From  this  incident. 
she  gained  a  good  deal  of  notoriety.  The  police  found 


PATHOLOGICAL  LYING  AND  SWINDLING    97 

there  was  nothing  to  the  case  and  later  Marie  herself  made  a 
confession.  By  the  time  we  saw  her  this  story  varied  some- 
what from  her  original  statement,  but  was  still  persisted  in, 
although  she  must  have  known  that  we  could  readily  trace 
the  actual  occurrence. 

After  Marie  had  continued  her  stories  for  a  few  weeks  while 
attending  the  university  they  had  grown  so  that  they  included 
night  visitations  in  her  boarding-house  from  the  man  who  was 
said  to  be  hounding  her,  she  was  found  once  more  impossible 
to  deal  with  and,  as  her  work  became  poorer,  she  had  to 
leave.  At  this  period  it  was  most  significant  to  us  that  in 
spite  of  her  expressed  desire  for  freedom  from  persecution 
she  did  not  want  us  to  look  further  into  her  case  because  of 
certain  mysterious  letters  which  would  incriminate  her.  We 
felt  entirely  convinced  that  the  several  reports  which  we 
received  of  her  career  in  preceding  years  gave  a  satisfactory 
clew  to  her  character,  although  we  were  never  able  to  analyze 
the  case  far  enough  to  ascertain  the  genetic  features.  Thus 
it  is  impossible  to  make  any  summary  of  causative  factors. 

CASE   6 

Summary:  A  thoroughly  characteristic  example  of  the  type  of 
pathological  lying  which  led  to  the  invention  of  the  term  pseudo- 
logia  phantastica.  A  young  woman,  well  endowed  physically 
and  mentally,  for  years  has  often  been  indulging  in  extensive 
fabrications  which  have  no  discernible  basis  in  advantages 
accruing  to  herself.  The  peculiarities  of  the  falsifications  have 
given  rise  to  much  trouble  for  her,  her  family,  and  for  many 
others  who  have  been  incidentally  connected  with  the  situation. 
The  genesis  of  the  tendency  was  finally  found  in  early  experiences 
about  which  there  have  been  much  mental  repression  and  con- 
flict. In  the  background  there  was  also  defective  home  control  and 
chronic  neuropathic  tendencies  in  both  parents  and  in  their  kin. 

Janet  B.,  19  years  old,  we  saw  first  in  an  eastern  city  at 
the  request  of  her  parents.  There  she  had  become  involved 


98  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

in  troubles  which  seemed  particularly  hard  to  unravel. 
However,  we  were  told  that  this  was  an  old  story  with  her. 
A  diagnosis  of  her  mental  condition  was  asked,  and  recom- 
mendations for  the  future.  (  Janet  had  told  some  very  pe- 
culiar stories  at  her  place  of  employment  where  she  was 
doing  very  well  as  a  newcomer,  without  any  seeming  reason 
for  fabrication^.  Several  who  had  become  interested  in  her 
were  wondering  if  she  were  quite  sane. 

(Aiter  having  made  her  way  alone  to  New  York,  Janet 
readily  obtained  employment.  After  a  couple  of  weeks  she 
approached  a  department  manager  of  the  concern  for  which 
she  worked  and  related  a  long  story,  which  at  once  aroused 
his  sympathy.  \She  told  him  that  her  father  and  mother 
had  died  in  the  last  year  and  that  she  was  entirely  dependent 
upon  herself.  When  she  was  about  four  years  of  age  she 
had  been  in  a  terrible  accident  and  a  certain  man  had  saved 
her  life.  Naturally,  her  father  had  always  thought  very 
highly  of  this  person  and  had  pensioned  him.  Formerly  he 
lived  up  in  the  country  with  his  family,  but  at  present  \vas 
old,  penniless,  and  alone  in  the  city.  Now  that  her  parents 
were  dead  she  was  in  a  quandary  about  keeping  up  her 
father's  obligation  to  the  old  man.  Out  of  her  $8  a  week  it 
was  hard  to  make  both  ends  meet.  She  had  to  pay  her  own 
board  and  for  this  man  also.  She  found  that  he  needed  to 
be  taken  care  of  in  every  way ;  she  had  to  wash  his  face  and 
dress  him,  he  was  so  helpless.)  She  made  no  demand  for 
any  increase  of  salary  and  the  story  was  told  evidently 
without  any  specific  intent.  The  services  of  a  social  worker 
were  enlisted  by  the  firm  and  the  girl  reiterated  the  same 
story  to  her,  even  though  it  was  clearly  intended  that  the 
case  should  be  investigated.  Janet's  boarding-house  was 
visited  and  there  she  was  found  to  be  living  with  distant 
relatives  whom  she  had  searched  out  upon  her  arrival  in 
the  city.  They  knew  she  had  run  away  from  home  and, 


PATHOLOGICAL  LYING  AND  SWINDLING    99 

indeed,  by  this  time  the  mother  herself  was  already  in  New 
York,  having  been  sent  for  by  them. 

The  situation  then  became  more  complicated  through  the 
girl's  giving  more  explanatory  details  to  the  social  worker, 
somewhat  accusing  her  own  family))  It  was  at  this  time  I 
first  saw  her.  (  She  then  acknowledged  that  this  story  of  a 
man  who  had  saved  her  life  was  purely  an  invention.  Now 
she  stated  that  in  the  western  town  where  she  lived  she  had 
been  engaged  to  a  young  man  who  was  discovered  to  be  a 
defaulter  and  who  had  recently  died.  When  this  fellow  was 
in  trouble,  his  mother,  while  calling  on  Janet's  family,  used 
to  make  signals  to  her  and  leave  notes  under  the  table  cover, 
asking  for  funds  with  which  to  help  him  out.  This  was  a 
great  strain  upon  Janet  and  even  more  so  was  his  death. 
She  could  stand  it  no  longer  and  fled  the  city.  Her  lover's 
stealing  was  a  secret  which  she  had  kept  from  her  own 
family.  J 

Before  we  had  become  acquainted  with  the  true  facts 
about  the  family  this  girl  gave  us  most  extensive  accounts 
of  various  phases  of  her  home  life  which  included  the  most 
unlikely  and  contradictory  details.  For  instance,  they  had 
a  large  house  with  beautiful  grounds,  yet  before  she  left 
home  she  bought  a  sewing  machine  for  her  mother,  which 
she  is  paying  for  on  weekly  installments.  Her  $8  a  week  is 
very  little  for  her  to  live  on  because  she  is  paying  this  in- 
debtedness. Janet  wishes  now  to  take  out  a  twenty  year 
endowment  policy  in  favor  of  her  mother.  Her  brothers 
and  sister  are  all  very  bright,  she  tells  us,  but  she  has  never 
been  particularly  close  to  any  member  of  her  family  except 
her  mother,  The  others  always  remind  her  that  they  are 
better  educated  than  she  is.  She  expects  to  take  up  French 
and  Spanish  in  the  evenings  because  they  would  be  very 
helpful  to  her  commercially.  She  does  not  care  to  grow  up, 
prefers  simple  enjoyments,  and  has  no  desire  for  social  affairs. 


100  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

She  is  only  desirous  of  improving  her  education.  She  relates 
her  success  as  a  Sunday  School  teacher.  She  thinks  at  times 
she  is  very  nervous,  and  especially  when  she  was  in  the  high 
school  she  showed  signs  of  it.  Then  she  used  to  stutter 
much,  but  of  late  she  has  been  able  to  control  this. 

At  another  time,  very  glibly  and  without  the  slightest 
show  of  emotion,  she  continues  with  her  story.  Tells  of 
frequent  fainting  spells  when  she  goes  from  one  attack  into 
another.  She  has  not  had  them  just  recently,  but  she  used 
to  have  them  at  home.  Tells  us  now  that  her  mother  has 
been  very  sick  and  she  has  been  worrying  much  about  her. 
She  wanted  to  send  money  to  her  and  help  support  her. 
'It's  awfully  hard  on  one  to  know  your  mother  is  terribly 
sick  and  to  think  you  can't  reach  her  if  anything  should 
happen."  (It  is  to  be  remembered  that  all  this  was  told 
when  the  girl  must  have  known,  if  she  had  thought  at  all, 
that  we  would  certainly  get  the  full  facts  in  a  day  or  so.) 

On  the  physical  side  we  found  a  very  well  developed  and 
well  nourished  young  woman.  Weight  148  Ibs.  No  sen- 
sory defect  noted.  Moderately  coarse  features,  broad  deep 
chest,  quiet  and  strong  attitude.  No  signs  whatever  of 
nervousness.  Her  only  complaint  at  present  is  of  headaches 
and  "quivering"  attacks.  (We  could  get  no  corroboration 
at  all  of  either  of  these  from  any  one  else.)  She  frequently 
spoke  of  herself  as  entirely  healthy  except  for  these  slight 
ailments.  Some  months  later,  vide  infra,  it  was  discovcri-d 
that  Janet  had  a  chronic  pelvic  trouble.  The  most  notable 
finding  was  Janet's  facial  expression  when  confronted  by 
some  of  her  incongruities  of  behavior.  Then  she  assumed 
a  most  peculiar,  open-eyed,  wondering,  dumb  expression. 
When  flatly  told  a  certain  part  of  her  story  was  falsehood, 
she  looked  one  straight  in  the  eyes  and  said  in  a  wonderfully 
demure  and  semi-sorrowful  manner,  "I  am  sorry  you  think 
so."  Her  expression  was  sincere  enough  to  make  even 


PATHOLOGICAL  LYING  AND  SWINDLING    101 

experienced  observers  half  think  they  must  themselves  be 
wrong. 

On  the  mental  side  she  demonstrated  good  ability  in  many 
ways.  She  had  been  through  two  years  of  high  school 
and  showed  evidences  of  her  training.  We  tested  her  for  a 
number  of  different  capacities  and,  with  one  exception,  we 
found  all  through  that  she  did  fairly  satisfactory  work,  show- 
ing herself  to  have  normal  mental  capabilities  and  control. 

This  exception  was  in  the  "Aussag  "  or  testimony  test. 
Here  in  reporting  on  our  standard  picture  she  gave  in  free 
recital  17  items,  which  is  a  fair  result,  but  she  added  several 
incorrect  details.  On  questioning  she  gave  12  more  items, 
but  invented  still  more  details.  Of  the  seven  standard 
suggestions  offered  she  very  curiously  accepted  only  one, 
and  that  not  important.  As  an  example  of  how  she  would 
supply  details  from  her  fancy  is  the  following :  The  picture 
represents  a  little  girl  standing  by  the  side  of  an  older  person. 
Janet  said  it  was  a  little  boy,  that  he  had  his  hands  in  his 
pockets,  a  muffler  on  his  neck,  a  stocking  cap  on  his  head, 
and  black  shoes  and  stockings.  All  of  these  were  voluntarily 
offered  and  all  were  incorrect. 

Beyond  this  curious  performance,  and  her  peculiar  lack 
of  foresight  and  shrewdness,  or  whatever  it  is  that  causes  her 
so  readily  to  falsify  and  fabricate,  we  found  not  the  slightest 
evidence  of  aberration.  Her  conversation  was  coherent 
and  to  the  point. 

In  the  information  obtained  from  the  intelligent  parents 
the  following  points  stand  out  clearly.  The  heredity  is  of 
interest.  There  has  been  no  known  case  of  feeblemindedness, 
insanity,  or  epilepsy  on  either  side,  but  there  is  a  great  ad- 
mixture of  very  good  with  quite  unstable  qualities.  This 
is  true  of  both  sides.  Some  members  of  the  family  have 
taken  high  positions  in  the  community,  and  been  exception- 
ally endowed  mentally.  Others  have  been  notoriously  lack- 


102  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

ing  in  stability.  We  are  informed  that  on  one  side  some  have 
shown  a  marked  inclination  for  tampering  with  the  truth, 
and  it  is  suggested  that  Janet's  tendency  is  the  result  of 
early  influence.  The  care  of  an  incompetent  grandmother, 
whose  word  was  notoriously  untrustworthy,  devolved  upon 
the  family  and  it  was  impossible  to  prevent  Janet  from  being 
much  with  her.  All  of  the  children  were  aware  of  the  old 
lady's  untruthfulness.  One  of  Janet's  parents  had  been  ad- 
dicted to  narcotics,  but  had  managed  to  shake  off  the  habit. 
The  other  parent  has  had  a  severe  attack  of  "nervous  pros- 
tration," largely  induced,  it  is  maintained,  by  worry  over 
family  affairs.  It  is  most  interesting  to  note  that  the  other 
children,  two  boys  and  one  girl,  have  turned  out  remark- 
ably well;  two  being  university  graduates,  and  all  being 
very  stable  in  character.  Both  parents  are  people  of  good 
moral  ideals,  and  in  spite  of  their  own  nervous  defects  have 
given  their  children  very  good  care. 

The  pregnancy  with  Janet  was  not  entirely  healthy,  but 
no  worse  than  with  the  other  children.  Her  birth  and  in- 
fancy were  normal.  Walked  and  talked  early.  Started  to 
school  at  6.  Menstruated  first  at  13;  not  irregular.  She 
never  had  any  severe  illnesses  of  any  kind.  As  a  child  she 
once  fell  down  some  steps  and  was  unconscious  for  a  few 
minutes,  but  the  accident  was  not  known  to  have  left  any 
bad  effects.  Janet's  own  stories  of  fainting  are  much  ex- 
aggerated. In  fact,  the  mother  has  never  really  seen  her 
faint,  nor  is  there  any  evidence  of  any  minor  lapses  of  con- 
sciousness. At  times  the  girl  would  feel  faint  and  ask  that 
water  be  poured  on  her  forehead  —  that  was  all  there  was 
to  it.  She  was  removed  in  the  middle  of  her  high  school 
course  on  account  of  general  nervousness.  The  doctor  felt 
she  was  working  too  hard.  Her  parents  are  sure  she  was 
never  a  great  sufferer  from  headaches.  Nothing  else  of  im- 
portance could  be  found  in  her  physical  history. 


PATHOLOGICAL  LYING  AND  SWINDLING    103 

The  story  of  this  girl's  falsifications  and  fabrications  as 
obtained  from  her  people  is  exceedingly  long.  As  a  young 
child  she  was  not  over-indulged  in  fairy  stories,  and  the 
parents  noticed  nothing  peculiar  about  her  then.  She  was 
not  regarded  as  a  child  who  had  any  unusual  powers  of 
imagination.  Somewhere  about  12  years  of  age,  her  parents 
cannot  be  certain  just  when,  they  noticed  she  began  the 
exaggeration  and  lying  which  has  continued  more  or  less 
ever  since.  In  the  past  two  or  three  years  this  has  grown 
upon  her  and  she  has  been  making  not  only  untrue  state- 
ments, but  has  been  concocting  peculiarly  long  and  intri- 
cate fabrications.  The  curious  thing  to  the  family  is  that 
Janet  seems  to  have  little  shrewdness  in  lying ;  of  normal 
ability  in  other  things,  she  seems  to  have  the  mind  of  a  child 
in  this.  Very  many  deceptions  are  discovered  in  short  or- 
der, but  even  then  the  girl  will  sometimes  argue  at  length 
that  what  she  has  said  was  really  the  truth.  The  parents 
insist  she  must  know  that  she  is  lying,  but  her  anomalous 
behavior  has  been  so  excessive  that  they  have  long  felt  she 
should  be  studied  by  a  psychiatrist.  Her  mother  asserts 
there  is  some  periodicity  in  Janet's  tendencies.  She  main- 
tains she  has  noticed  that  most  of  her  lies  are  told  in  the  two 
or  three  days  preceding  menstruation.  (This  was  certainly 
not  true  during  the  period  we  observed  the  girl.)  The  parents 
are  sure  there  has  never  been  any  particular  mental  shock, 
and  the  mother  has  always  felt  that  Janet  was  particularly 
free  from  contamination  by  bad  children.  At  times  she 
seems  to  realize  her  own  bad  behavior,  and  not  long 
ago  said  she  would  become  a  nun,  for  in  the  tranquil 
life  of  the  convent  her  tendency  to  lying  would  not  be 
stimulated. 

Further  inquiry  brought  out  the  fact  that  it  was  true,  as 
Janet  stated,  that  in  her  high  school  course  she  became 
nervous  to  the  extent  of  jerking  and  twitching,  and  that  also 


104  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

for  a  time  she  stuttered.     Their  physician  said,  however, 
that  there  was  no  definite  nervous  disease. 

As  a  young  child  the  parents  never  thought  this  girl  in 
any  way  different  from  the  rest  of  the  family.  As  she  grew 
older  she  has  been  regarded  as  physically  the  most  robust, 
but,  as  she  stated  to  us,  she  has  done  the  poorest  intellectual 
work  and  that  has  often  been  a  matter  of  family  comment. 
TJie  other  children  are  careful  truth  tellers. 
*  The  type  of  Janet's  lying  has  been  not  only  in  the  form  of 
falsifications  about  matters  which  directly  concerned  her- 
self, but  also  involved  extensive  manufacture  of  long  stories, 
phantasies.  Meeting  people  she  might  give  them  extensive 
accounts  of  the  wealth  and  importance  of  her  own  family. 
She  once  spread  the  report  that  her  sister  was  married  and 
living  in  a  fine  home  close  by,  giving  many  elaborate  details 
of  the  new  household.  Such  stories  naturally  caused  much 
family  embarrassment.  Then  she  worked  up  an  imaginary 
entertainment  and  gave  invitations  to  her  brothers  and  sister 
at  the  request  of  a  pretended  hostess.  Just  before  the  event 
she,  simulating  the  hostess,  [telephoned  that  an  accident 
had  taken  place  and  the  party  would  not  be  given.  An 
extremely  delicate  situation  arose  because  she  alleged  a 
certain  young  man  wanted'  to  marry  her.  The  truth  of 
her  assertions  in  this  matter  never  was  investigated.  The 
parents  felt  it  quite  impossible  to  go  to  the  young  man  about 
the  facts  on  account  of  the  danger  of  exposing  their  daughte^ 
They  were  long  embarrassed  by  the  extent  to  which  she  kept 
this  affair  going,  but  it  finally  was  dropped  without  any 
social  scandal  occurring.  In  this  and  other  affairs  the 
family  situation  was  at  times  unbearable  because  of  the 
possibility  that  there  might  be  some  truth  underlying  the 
girl's  statements.^  As  the  years  went  on  Janet,  of  course, 
suffered  from  her  loss  of  reputation,  but  still  continued  IHT 
practices  of  lying^  In  the  two  years  before  she  left  home  she 


PATHOLOGICAL  LYING  AND  SWINDLING    105 

worked  as  a  clerk.  Previously  she  had  held  two  or  three 
situations  and  was  reported  to  give  good  satisfaction  in  her 
work,  but  something  would  always  come  up  about  money 
matters,  or  other  things,  which  would  finally  give  rise  to 
trouble.  It  is  not  known  that  she  ever  really  took  any  money 
except  the  last  time  when  she  ran  away  and  took  a  consider- 
able sum  from  her  parents. 

A  period  of  extensive  untruthfulness  and  deception  oc- 
curred before  she  left  home.  Janet  represented  to  her  par- 
ents that  she  was  working  at  a  certain  place  after  she  had  left. 
She  got  into  some  mix-up  about  money  matters,  the  rights 
of  which  never  were  straightened  out.  As  usual,  the  affair 
was  too  complicated  to  be  understood  by  anything  short  of  a 
prolonged  investigation.  After  things  had  come  to  this  pass 
and  her  parents  hardly  knew  what  to  do  with  her,  she  took 
money  from  them  and  ran  away.  She  was  readily  traced 
because  the  ticket  agent  in  her  home  town  could  give  a  de- 
scription of  her.  She  had  bought  a  ticket  to  an  intermediate 
point  and  there  stopped  over  night.  Her  father  followed 
her  thus  far.  It  seems  when  she  finally  got  to  New  York 
she  hunted  up  the  distant  relatives  who  took  her  in  and  in- 
formed the  mother.  The  girl  intended  to  earn  her  own 
living  and  soon  found  a  good  place.  She  was  always  able 
to  make  a  good  presentation  of  herself,  being  a  quiet  and 
convincing  conversationalist. 

Out  of  the  mess  of  lies  surrounding  her  New  York  ex- 
perience, it  was  finally  found  that  she  had  met  a  young  man 
in  a  boarding-house  and  had  become  infatuated  with  him.  He 
was  an  honest  enough  fellow,  but  fell  in  readily  with  her 
forwardness.  He  took  her  to  shows,  and  letters,  intercepted 
by  the  mother,  showed  that  between  them  there  had  been 
some  premature  love  passages.  At  that  time  Janet  started 
making  weekly  payments  on  a  gold  watch  to  give  to  this 
young  man  at  Christmas,  a  curious  and  quite  unwarranted 


106  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

expenditure.  Perhaps  this  was  the  fact  around  which  some 
of  her  fabrications  at  that  time  centered.  Perhaps  it  was 
this  money  which  became  now  the  amount  she  was  paying 
to  her  father's  pensioner,  now  what  she  had  to  send  home 
to  her  mother,  and,  again,  her  payments  upon  an  imaginary 
sewing  machine.  In  this  affair,  as  at  other  times,  the  lying 
was  extremely  childish,  inasmuch  as  the  truth,  through 
receipts  found  in  her  room,  proved  to  be  readily  ascertuin- 
able. 

A  good  example  of  the  character  of  Janet's  falsifications 
was  the  story  about  the  death  of  her  lover,  told  to  us  at  our 
last  interview  with  her  when  she  had  come  to  us  with  the 
specific  purpose  of  trying  to  get  herself  straightened  out  once 
and  for  all.  She  was  not  aware  that  her  parents  had  given 
me  any  account  of  this  young  man,  but  she  might  we'll  have 
supposed  that  I  had  inquired  about  him,  or  at  least  would 
inquire.  Only  a  few  minutes  previously  she  had  told 
about  her  lying  and  given  a  very  definite  account  of  its  be- 
ginnings which  was  much  in  accord  with  what  her  parents 
had  said.  Mentioning  her  love  affairs,  she  maintained  that, 
unbeknown  to  her  parents,  she  had  been  engaged  to  this 
man,  but  that  he  had  proved  to  be  a  thief,  stealing  money 
and  robbing  the  mails.  She  started  off  on  a  story  of  how 
another  young  man  was  accused,  but  no  evidence  was  forth- 
coming about  him,  and  soon  afterward  her  lover  died. 
Getting  him  safely  buried  for  us,  she  was  quite  willing  to  go 
on  to  another  topic. 

The  workings  of  Janet's  mind  in  connection  with  her 
alterations  of  a  story  were  sometimes  most  curious.  We 
were  interested  to  study  a  long  letter  quite  coherently  written 
to  her  mother  a  few  days  before  we  saw  the  young  woman,  and 
about  the  time  when  she  first  told  her  long  story  to  the  de- 
partment manager.  In  the  letter  she  spoke  of  the  extraor- 
dinary opportunities  she  now  had  in  this  place  of  employ- 


PATHOLOGICAL  LYING  AND  SWINDLING  107 

ment,  exaggerating  her  salary  to  $14  a  week.  She  stated 
she  had  already  had  a  raise,  and  could  get  work  for  other 
•  members  of  her  family  at  good  salaries.  She  was  about  to 
start  a  bank  account,  and  so  on.  But  instead  of  making 
any  remittances  to  her  mother  (such  as  she  asserted  at  one 
time)  she  requested  her  parents  to  send  her  $5  to  tide  her 
over.  We  counted  no  less  than  nine  definite  falsehoods  in 
this  epistle.  We  were  keen  to  know  if  Janet  could  remember 
her  own  prevarications  and  so  asked  her  if  she  could  recall 
what  she  had  written  to  her  mother.  She  trimmed  her 
statements  most  curiously  then,  being  aware  we  knew  her 
salary  to  be  $8  a  week.  She  said  she  had  told  her  mother 
her  salary  was  $10,  but  in  answer  to  our  reply,  "Oh,  you 
said  more  than  that,"  she  blurted  out,  "Well,  I  said  $14." 
It  was  quite  evident  she  remembered  this,  as  well  as  certain 
other  exaggerated  statements  and  figures  in  the  letter. 

We  were  fortunate  enough  to  be  able  to  analyze  out  much 
of  the  genesis  of  this  girl's  career  as  a  pathological  liar. 
After  the  immediate  situation  was  somewhat  cleared  and 
Janet  asserted  she  was  anxious  to  make  a  new  start  in  life, 
we  began  our  inquiry  into  beginnings.  Janet  showed  will- 
ingness to  enter  into  the  question  of  her  mental  antecedents 
and  tendencies  which  she  maintained  she  heartily  deplored. 
To  be  sure  we  had  evidence  that  even  in  her  most  sincere 
moments  she  was  unable  to  refrain  from  occasional  falsify- 
ing, but  the  main  facts  seemed  self-evidently  true,  and 
some  of  them  were  corroborated  at  interviews  with  the 
parents. 

After  considering  her  own  career  with  us  for  a  time,  she 
asserted  that  it  now  was  clear  to  her  just  how  and  when  she 
began  lying.  As  a  child  of  about  12  years  it  seems  she  was 
wont  to  meet  with  a  certain  group  of  girls  on  a  hillside  and 
they  indulged  in  many  conversations  about  sex  matters. 
Evidently  the  circumstances  surrounding  this  important 


108  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

introduction  into  affairs  of  sex  life  were  indelibly  impressed 
upon  her  mind.  She  was  there  instructed  not  only  in  the 
general  facts,  but  also  in  methods  of  self -gratification.  It 
is  clear  to  her,  she  states,  that  it  was  exactly  at  this  time  that 
she  first  began  deceiving  her  mother  and  telling  lies.  She 
explains  these  tendencies  as  the  result  of  a  guilty  conscience. 
It  comes  out  that  the  mother  did  not  know  this  group  of 
girls  to  be  undesirable  companions  for  Janet,  but  the  latter's 
consciousness  of  their  frailties  always  led  her  to  state  that 
she  had  been  with  other  children  when  in  reality  she  hud 
been  in  this  bad  companionship.  Through  dwelling  on 
their  teachings  she  began  sex  practices  by  herself,  and  in 
order  to  carry  this  out  she  had  to  indulge  in  other  decep- 
tions. She  remembers  distinctly  her  willful  repression  of 
the  facts,  and  states  that  the  nervousness  which  she  dis- 
played for  two  or  three  years  in  her  school  work  was  un- 
doubtedly due  to  this  cause.  In  fact,  she  thought  so  at  the 
time,  but  persisted  in  deceiving  her  mother  and  her  physi- 
cian in  regard  to  the  matter. 

Her  mental  repressions  and  conflicts  did  not  begin,  how- 
ever, at  this  period.  By  digging  further  into  her  memory 
Janet  tells  us  about  a  girl  in  another  town  where  they  used 
to  live,  a  girl  who,  when  Janet  was  about  7  years  old,  wanted 
to  show  her  about  sex  practices.  Janet  knew  this  girl  to 
be  bad  by  general  reputation,  and  ran  away  when  this  offer 
was  made,  but  it  was  too  late  —  the  mental  impress  had  been 
formed.  She  thinks  her  mother  would  remember  this  girl. 
The  things  which  this  bad  girl  started  to  tell  came  frequently 
up  in  Janet's  mind  and  she  wondered  much  about  them. 
No  practices,  however,  were  indulged  in  and  even  the 
thoughts  were  fought  against  until  the  time  mentioned  above 
when  other  sex  ideas  were  implanted.  Janet's  mother  had 
neither  given  nor  received  confidences  on  this  subject,  ami 
indeed  never  throughout  the  daughter's  life  has  there  been 


PATHOLOGICAL  LYING  AND  SWINDLING   109 

anything  except  vague  warnings  on  the  part  of  the  mother 
about  the  general  dangers  of  sex  immorality. 

We  gradually  came  to  learn  that  Janet  had  been  subject 
to  much  sex  temptation  from  her  own  physical  feelings. 
She  never  was  a  good  sleeper,  she  thinks,  and  she  often  lies 
awake,  or  will  wake  up  for  a  time  in  the  middle  of  the  night 
and  think  of  sex  affairs.  She  feels  sure  there  has  been  con- 
siderable stress  upon  her  on  account  of  this  temptation  which 
she  has  felt  should  be  combated.  The  occasional  giving  way 
to  sex  habits  also  resulted  in  mental  stress  and,  as  she  ex- 
presses it,  worry. 

At  the  time  of  her  failure  to  do  well  in  school  work  her 
internal  conflicts  were  especially  acute.  There  was  before 
her  continually  the  success  which  the  other  members  of  her 
family  had  made,  which  she  herself  admired,  and  for  which 
she  was  ambitious.  She  hid  at  that  time  the  cause  of  her 
nervousness  and  failure ;  there  was  the  danger  of  its  being 
discovered.  After  thus  reviewing  her  case  with  us,  Janet 
reiterated  that  she  was  sure  her  tendency  to  prevaricate 
came  on  at  the  time  when  she  first  began  her  bad  sex  habits. 

This  girl  was  probably  not  much  of  a  day-dreamer.  She 
denies  being  so,  saying  she  had  always  been  too  busy  for 
such  to  be  the  case.  We  also  obtained  corroboration  of 
this  from  others  who  had  closely  observed  her.  She  says 
she  had  lived  no  specially  imaginative  life  beyond  occasion- 
ally thinking  of  herself  as  a  well-to-do  lady  with  many  good 
clothes  to  wear,  or  sometimes  lying  in  bed  and  imagining 
she  had  a  lover  there.  Further  inquiry  into  her  imaginative 
life  seemed  futile  because  she  was  not  trained  in  introspection 
and  because  even  in  her  frankest  moments  we  were  always 
afraid  that  she  might  fall  into  her  strongly  formed  habit 
of  prevarication.  We  ascertained  that  in  her  home  life 
special  efforts  had  been  made  to  keep  her  busy  and  she  could 
not  be  regarded  as  a  dreamer.  Janet  strongly  denied  the 


110  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

periodicity  in  her  lying  which  her  mother  maintained,  but 
the  girl  did  state  that  her  periods  of  sex  temptation  were 
mostly  just  preceding  her  menstrual  period. 

In  giving  the  above  account  of  what  was  ascertained  by 
analysis  with  Janet  we  have  offered  such  of  her  statements 
as  are  clearly  probable  or  which  are  corroborated  by  the 
parents.  Our  many  experiences  with  the  young  woman  led 
us  to  be  particularly  careful  in  accepting  as  veracious  any 
of  her  statements  unless,  as  in  what  is  given  above,  they 
clearly  followed  the  type  of  fact  which  may  be  ascertained 
in  the  investigation  of  other  instances  of  pathological  lying 
where  the  individual's  word  is  more  reliable.  The  parents 
were  able  to  corroborate  many  points.  The  mother  remem- 
bers the  older  girl  in  the  town  where  they  lived  when  Janet 
was  7  years  old  and  that  this  girl  was  notorious  for  her  sex 
tendencies,  although  she  was  not  in  the  least  aware  that 
Janet  had  been  contaminated.  Then  she  recollects  that 
Janet  used  to  tell  her  so  particularly  about  going  with  a 
special  crowd  of  girls  (those  which  she  now  says  were  not 
her  companions).  Both  parents  considered  the  matter  at 
great  length  in  order  to  help  my  study  of  the  case  and  both 
are  very  certain  that  it  was  just  about  this  period  when 
Janet  says  she  was  beginning  her  covert  sex  experiences 
that  she  began  the  lying,  which  was  petty  at  first,  but  after 
a  time  expanded  into  the  type  of  detailed  falsifications  we 
have  enumerated  above.  Altogether  there  was  little  doubt 
in  our  minds  that  Janet  was  giving  the  truth  in  its  main 
outlines.  Undoubtedly  it  was  merely  her  habit  which  al- 
ways led  her  to  alter  somewhat  the  details. 

We  were  interested  to  note  that  in  her  letters  and  in  her 
ordinary  conversation  Janet  took  up  the  topics  that  a  fairly 
well  educated  girl  would  naturally  discuss.  For  instance, 
she  would  give  us  some  account  of  her  recent  reading,  or 
a  visit  to  an  art  gallery,  telling  us  with  normal  vivacity 


PATHOLOGICAL  LYING  AND  SWINDLING   111 

about  a  couple  of  pictures  which  had  deeply  impressed  her. 
She  spoke  not  only  of  their  subjective  influence,  but  dis- 
cussed the  details  of  composition  and  coloring.  We  might 
mention  that  in  a  characteristic  way  she  interjected  some 
remarks  that  she  herself  used  to  be  very  good  at  drawing  and 
won  several  prizes  at  it.  She  stated  that  she  thought  of 
going  farther  in  art,  but  that  her  parents  could  hardly  afford 
to  allow  her  to  do  this.  These  remarks  were  found  later 
to  be  quite  aside  from  the  truth. 

Telling  us  the  story  of  her  school  career,  Janet  insists  her 
memory  had  never  been  good  for  learning  poems  or  for 
languages,  particularly  Latin,  but  anything  in  the  way  of  a 
picture  she  could  recall  with  ease.  What  she  has  read  she 
often  thinks  of  in  the  form  of  pictures.  Concerning  her 
lying  she  denied  it  was  done  particularly  to  cover  up  things, 
at  least  since  the  time  when  the  habit  was  first  formed. 
She  feels  that  it  really  is  a  habit,  a  very  bad  one.  She 
hardly  knows  she  is  going  to  prevaricate ;  the  false  state- 
ment comes  out  suddenly.  In  thinking  about  it  all  she 
harks  back  once  more  to  that  crowd  of  girls;  everybody 
thought  they  were  good,  but  she  knew  they  were  not. 

After  a  time  of  quieting  down  in  her  behavior  tendencies, 
although  there  was  never  complete  cessation  of  the  inclina- 
tion to  falsify,  a  new  exacerbation  of  lying  arose.  This  time 
it  seemed  to  center  about  a  clandestine  love  affair  of  a  mild 
type.  There  was  one  trouble  with  this  case  which  neither 
I  nor  any  one  else  was  able  to  clear  for  the  parents.  It  was 
perfectly  apparent  that  the  girl  might  naturally  be  expected 
to  marry  at  some  time.  Now,  when  an  honest  young  man 
felt  inspired  to  keep  company  with  this  vivacious,  healthy, 
and  generally  attractive  young  woman,  what  were  the 
parents  to  do  ?  It  was  easy  enough  for  them  to  decide  that 
she  must  not  go  with  a  man  of  bad  character,  but  were  they 
bound  in  honor  to  inform  any  young  man,  before  affairs 


112  PATHOLOGICAL   LYING 

had  gone  too  far,  that  the  girl  had  this  unfortunate  tendency 
and  that  she  had  had  rather  a  shady  career?  It  was  per- 
fectly clear  to  them  that  she  herself  would  not  tell  him. 
This  was  how  the  matter  stood  at  the  time  we  last  heard  of 
the  case,  and  while  the  parents  were  holding  back,  a  young 
man's  affections  and  the  girl's  fabrications  were  growing 
apace. 

Janet  had  been  suffering  from  a  chronic  inflammation  of 
the  bladder,  which,  however,  did  not  cause  any  acute  symp- 
toms. A  chronic  pelvic  inflammation  was  discovered,  for 
which  she  was  operated  upon  in  her  home  town.  The  surgeon 
reported  to  the  parents  that  conditions  were  such  that  they 
would  naturally  be  highly  irritative,  although  there  had  born 
no  previous  complaint  about  them.  The  girl  made  an  ex- 
ceedingly rapid  recovery.  It  was  after  this  that  her  last 
affair  of  the  affections  was  causing  the  parental  quandary 
and  distress. 

Our  final  diagnosis  of  this  case,  after  eareful  study  of  it, 
was  that  it  was  a  typical  case  of  pathological  lying,  mytho- 
maiiia,  or  pseudologia  phantastica.  The  girl  could  not  be 
called  a  defective  in  any  ordinary  sense.  Her  capabilities 
were  above  the  average.  She  showed  good  moral  instincts 
in  many  directions  and  was  at  times  altogether  penitent. 
Nor  could  she  be  said  to  have  a  psychosis.  The  trouble  was 
confined  to  one  form  of  conduct. 

The  lying,  as  in  all  these  cases,  seemed  undertaken  s< 
times  for  the  advantages  which  thereby  might  accrue.  On 
the  other  hand,  at  times  the  falsification  seemed  to  have 
no  relation  to  personal  advantages.  Indeed,  this  girl  had 
experience,  many  times  repeated,  that  her  lying  very  quickly 
resulted  in  suffering  to  her.  There  were  aspects  of  her 
falsifications  which  made  it  seem  as  if  there  was  pleasure  in 
the  mere  manufacture  of  the  stories  themselves  and  in  the 
living,  even  for  a  short  time,  in  the  situations  which  she  had 


PATHOLOGICAL  LYING  AND  SWINDLING  113 

created  out  of  her  imagination  and  communicated  to  others. 
Frequently  there  seemed  to  be  an  unwillingness  on  her  part 
to  face  the  true  facts  of  existence.  In  her  representation  of 
things  as  different  from  what  they  really  were  she  seemed  to 
show  even  the  desire  for  self-deception.  Another  point :  no 
student  of  cases  of  this  kind  should  allow  himself  to  forget 
the  potency  of  habit  formation.  There  can  be  little  doubt 
but  that  a  large  share  of  this  girl's  conduct  was  the  result  of 
her  well  developed  and  long  maintained  tendency  to  trim 
the  facts. 

As  far  as  we  were  able  to  determine,  and  we  undoubtedly 
got  at  the  essential  facts,  this  girl's  falsifying  trait  was  based 
on  the  following :  The  fact  that  she  came  of  neuropathic 
stock  would  make  us  think  that  she  possibly  inherited  an 
unstable  mental  make-up.  To  be  sure,  the  only  evidence  of 
it  was  in  this  anomalous  characteristic  of  hers,  namely,  her 
pathological  lying.  /She  seemed  sound  in  her  nervous  make- 
up. The  idea  that  the  grandmother  passed  on  as  inheritance 
her  prevaricating  traits  is  open  to  discussion,  but  we  have 
seen  that  environmental  influences  from  this  source  may 
have  been  the  only  effect,  if  there  was  any  at  all.  Very 
important  in  this  case,  without  any  doubt,  is  the  early  sex 
teaching,  its  repression  and  the  mental  conflict  about  it  for 
years,  and  then  the  reintroduction  into  the  subject  just  before 
puberty.  Probably  this  is  the  vital  point  of  the  girl's  whole 
career.  The  success  she  early  achieved  in  deceiving  her 
mother,  not  by  denials,  but  by  the  elaboration  of  imaginary 
situations,  has  been  the  chief  determinant  of  her  unfortunate 
behavior.  Added  to  that  was  the  formation  of  a  habit  and 
of  an  attitude  towards  life  in  which  the  stern  realities  were 
evaded  by  the  interposition  of  unrealities.  Even  the  affair  of 
the  imaginary  social  gathering  can  be  conceived  in  this  light, 
for  evidently  she  and  her  family  were  not  engaged  then  in 
social  affairs  and  the  preparation  for  a  gay  event  would  for 


114  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

a  time  be  a  source  of  excitement  and  pleasure.  Her  auto- 
eroticism  may  have  helped  towards  the  production  of  phan- 
tasies and  the  general  tendency  to  evasion  of  the  realities  of 
life. 

It  was  clear  from  first  to  last  that  the  exploration  of  the 
genesis  of  the  tendencies  in  such  a  case  as  this  could  be  but 
one  step  towards  a  cure.  What  was  also  needed  was  pro- 
longed disciplinary  treatment  under  conditions  which  were 
well  nigh  impossible  to  be  gained  at  her  age.  Willingness  on 
the  part  of  the  individual  to  enter  into  any  long  period  of 
discipline  or  education,  such  as  an  institution  might  offer, 
is  not  easily  obtained. 


Mental  conflict:  early  and  severe.  Case  6. 

Early  sex  experiences  and  habits.  Girl,  age  19  yrs. 

Mental  habit  formation. 

Home  conditions :    defective    understanding 

and  control,  although  ordinarily  good 

home.  Early  acquaintance  with  lying. 

Heredity:     neuropathic    tendencies    on 

both  sides. 
Delinquencies :  Mentality : 

Excessive  lying.  Ability  well  up  to 

Runaway.  the  ordinary. 


CASE  7 

Summary:  A  girl  of  16  brought  to  us  by  her  mother,  who  re- 
gards her  as  abnormal  mentally  because  she  is  an  excessive  liar 
and  delinquent  in  other  minor  ways,  proved  to  be  an  habitual 
inasturbator.  Under  direction,  the  mother  succeeded  in  curing 
her  of  this  habit,  with  the  remarkable  result  that  the  young 
woman  became  in  the  course  of  a  couple  of  years  quite  reliable. 

We  first  saw  this  young  woman  of  16  with  the  mother  who 
maintained  that  there  must  be  something  wrong  with  the 


PATHOLOGICAL  LYING  AND  SWINDLING   115 

girl's  mentality  because  of  her  lying,  recent  running  away 
from  home,  and  some  minor  misconduct.  There  had  been 
trouble  with  her  since  she  was  7  years  old.  She  was  the 
twin  of  a  child  who  died  early  and  who  never  developed 
normally.  Her  mother  said  she  seemed  smart  enough  in 
some  ways;  she  had  reached  7th  grade  before  she  was  14, 
but  even  at  that  time  she  was  a  truant  and  would  run  off  to 
moving-picture  shows  at  every  opportunity.  Her  father 
was  a  rascal  and  came  of  an  immoral  family.  He  had  a 
criminal  record,  and  that  was  another  reason  why  the  mother 
felt  this  girl  was  going  to  the  bad.  The  mother  herself  was 
strong  and  healthy ;  she  was  remarried.  The  existence  of  feeble- 
mindedness, epilepsy,  or  insanity  on  either  side  was  denied. 

We  quickly  observed  by  the  physical  conditions  of  this 
girl  that  something  was  the  matter.  Expression  sad  and  dull. 
Long  thin  face  and  compressed  lips.  Vision  almost  nil  in 
one  eye,  but  normal  in  the  other.  Hearing  normal.  Color 
only  fair.  Weight  115  Ibs. ;  height  5  ft.  4  in.  Most  notable 
was  her  general  listlessness.  "I  feel  draggy  and  tired. 
I'm  yawning  all  the  time." 

On  the  mental  tests  we  found  much  irregularity.  Tasks 
that  were  done  without  effort  were  done  fairly  well.  The 
girl  was  a  good  reader  and  wrote  a  good  hand.  A  long  task 
in  arithmetic  was  with  difficulty  done  correctly.  When  she 
was  able  to  get  hold  of  herself  she  could  do  even  our  harder 
tests  with  accuracy.  Her  failures  were  apparently  from 
lack  of  concentration  and  attention.  Although  she  did 
some  things  well  we  felt  obliged  to  call  her  dull  from  physical 
causes,  feeling  that  if  she  were  in  better  condition  she  might 
give  a  much  better  performance. 

On  the  "Aussage,"  or  Testimony  Test,  11  items  were 
given  on  free  recital  and  2  of  these  were  wrong.  Upon  ques- 
tioning, 17  more  details  were  added  and  4  of  these  were  in- 
correct. 2  out  of  5  suggestions  definitely  accepted. 


116  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

Under  observation  it  was'  just  as  the  mother  said.  The 
girl  was  an  extreme  falsifier.  As  one  observer  puts  it,  "she  is 
not  malicious  in  her  lies,  but  just  lies  all  the  time  and  seems 
to  try  to  make  herself  believe  what  she  is  saying." 

"I  was  in  the  7th  grade.  Had  a  hundred  jobs  since  then. 
Can't  keep  them  because  I'm  so  draggy.  They  want  their 
money's  worth  —  they  want  a  more  live  girl.  Sometimes 
I  don't  mind  my  mother  and  I  get  spunky.  I  feel  lonesome 
and  get  mad.  I  feel  tired.  I  can't  please  my  mother  no 
matter  how  hard  I  try.  I'd  like  to  go  in  some  little  home 
where  I  could  have  a  chance." 

After  a  few  days  we  found  this  girl  in  a  decidedly  good 
mood,  wanting  to  be  helped.  She  willingly  entered  into  the 
analysis  of  her  case  with  us  and  said  she  thought  most  of  her 
trouble  came  because  she  was  a  day-dreamer.  "Sometimes 
I  dream  of  things  in  the  day  time.  I'll  sit  and  stare  and  stare 
and  think  of  different  things.  I'll  think  I'm  doing  them. 
I'll  dream  of  things  what  I  do  and  if  I  read  a  good  play  I'll 
dream  of  that.  When  I  think  of  myself  or  somebody  starts 
looking  at  me  I'll  stop  dreaming." 

To  another  observer  this  girl  gave  a  vivid  description  of 
how  she  felt  after  seeing  pictures  in  the  nickel  shows.  She 
states  that  love-making  scenes  lead  her  to  practice  self-abuse. 
This  matter  was  taken  up  with  her  mother  who  stated  that 
when  this  child  was  7  years  old  she  and  the  father  had 
caught  her  at  this  habit  and  had  severely  reprimanded  her 
and  had  thought  she  had  stopped  it.  We  were  particularly 
interested  to  hear  this  because  it  was  exactly  the  time  the 
mother  had  specified  as  the  beginning  of  her  lying  and 
general  bad  behavior.  Going  farther  into  the  case  with  the 
mother  and  the  girl  we  ascertained  that  her  bad  sex  habits 
had  been  continued  more  or  less  during  all  these  years,  and 
of  late,  particularly  under  the  influence  of  picture  shows,  and 
of  what  some  other  girls  were  doing  in  the  way  of  delinquency, 


PATHOLOGICAL  LYING  AND  SWINDLING  119 

the  habit  had  become  worse  than  ever.  It  was  closely  con- 
nected evidently  with  day-dreaming  all  these  years  and  with 
the  development  of  the  fabricating  tendency. 

The  mother  who  had  been  apparently  so  negligent  of 
causes  proved  now  to  be  a  stalwart  in  this  case  and  took  the 
girl  under  her  immediate  charge.  There  was  steady  better- 
ment. The  girl  went  back  and  finished  school  and  at  the 
end  of  a  year  was  reported  as  tremendously  improved. 
There  was  no  further  complaint  about  her  lying.  We  know 
that  after  this  she  long  held  a  good  position  which  any  hint  of 
untrustworthiness  or  lack  of  capacity  would  have  lost  her. 
Thus  the  cure  of  her  sex  habits  brought  about  cessation  of 
her  extreme  un truthfulness. 


Bad  sex  habits  long  continued.  Case  7. 

Heredity.  (  ?)  Father  immoral  Girl,  age  16  yrs. 

and  criminal. 
Home  conditions.       Lack  of  understanding  and 

supervision. 
Delinquencies :  Mentality : 

Excessive  lying.  Dull  from  physical 

Early  truancy.  causes.      (Later 

Running  away.  quite  normal.) 


CASE  8 

Summary:  A  thoroughly  illustrative  case  of  long  continued, 
excessive  pathological  lying  on  the  part  of  a  very  bright  girl, 
now  17  years  old.  As  this  young  woman  has  well  known,  her 
falsifications  have  many  times  militated  against  the  fulfillment 
of  her  own  desires  and  interests.  In  the  face  of  clear  appercep- 
tion of  her  fault,  the  tendency  to  react  to  a  situation  by  lying 
sometimes  appears'4to  be  fairly  imperative.  The  only  ascertained 
bases  of  the  tendency  are  her  early  reactions,  unthwarted  by 


n8  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

parental  control,  followed  by  habit  formation;  all  in  an  environ- 
ment peculiarly  favorable  to  deception.  The  lying  passed  over 
into  swindling. 

Gertrude  S.,  who  immigrated  from  England  with  her 
parents  ten  years  previously,  was  seen  by  us  when  she  was  17, 
after  she  had  been  engaged  for  months  in  a  career  of  mis- 
representation which  had  led  her  case  into  the  hands  of 
several  social  agencies.  Much  difficulty  was  encountered 
because  repeatedly  when  people  had  tried  to  help  her  she 
had  led  them  astray  in  their  investigations  by  telling  ridic- 
ulously unnecessary  falsehoods.  Her  parents  came  to  see 
us  and  gradually  we  obtained  a  detailed  and  probably  quite 
reliable  family  aud  developmental  history.  About  the 
evolution  of  the  young  woman's  mental  life  we  have  unfor- 
tunately had  to  rely  much  upon  her  own  word.  This  has 
made  our  studies  rather  more  unsatisfactory  than  in  other 
cases  where  corroboration  from  parents  was  obtained. 
However,  there  is  much  that  rings  true  and  is  of  interest  even 
in  the  unverifiable  part  of  the  study. 

There  is  not  much  to  be  said  about  the  physical  examina- 
tion ;  it  was  negative  in  most  respects.  She  is  of  rather 
slight  type ;  weight  110  Ibs.,  height  5  ft.  1  in.  Delicate 
features  of  mature  type.  Expression  intelligent  and  de- 
cidedly refined  for  her  social  class.  Gynecological  examina- 
tion made  by  a  specialist  revealed  nothing  abnormal  and  no 
evidence  of  immorality.  Menstruation  said  to  have  taken 
place  at  13  years  and  to  be  regular  and  not  difficult. 

In  studying  Gertrude's  mental  powers  we  gave  a  consider- 
able range  of  tests  and  found  her  to  be  well  up  to  the  ordinary 
in  ability.  She  showed  no  remarkable  ability  in  any  direc- 
tion, but  gave  an  almost  uniformly  good  performance  on 
tests.  Concerning  her  other  mental  traits  and  especially 
her  range  of  information  and  reading  more  will  be  said  later. 
No  signs  of  aberration  were  discovered  by  any  one. 


PATHOLOGICAL  LYING  AND  SWINDLING   119 

The  record  on  the  "Aussage"  picture  test  is  as  follows: 
She  gave  16  items  on  free  recital  with  considerable  reference 
to  functional  details  and  with  side  comments  as  to  who  the 
little  girl  might  be,  and  what  the  dog  wanted,  and  so  on. 
So  far,  this  was  the  performance  of  a  rational,  quick-minded 
person.  On  questioning,  28  more  items  were  added,  but 
no  less  than  12  of  these  were  incorrect  —  she  evidently 
supplied  freely  from  her  imagination.  Of  the  7  suggestions 
which  were  offered  she  took  5.  Twice  not  only  was  the  main 
suggestion  accepted,  but  imaginary  details  were  added. 
Naturally,  this  is  a  very  unusual  record  from  a  normal  person. 

There  is  absolutely  nothing  of  significance  in  the  heredity, 
according  to  the  accounts  received  by  us.  All  the  grand- 
parents are  still  alive  in  the  old  country.  They  are  small 
townspeople  of  good  reputation.  Epilepsy,  insanity,  and 
feeblemindedness  are  stoutly  denied  and  are  probably  absent 
in  near  relatives.  The  father  is  a  staunch  citizen  who  feels 
keenly  the  disgrace  of  the  present  situation.  He  is  a  hard 
working  clerk.  We  early  learned  the  mother  was  not  to  be 
relied  upon.  Our  best  evidence  of  this  came  from  Gertrude. 
She  told  us  she  had  always  been  accustomed  to  hearing  lies 
in  her  own  household.  According  to  the  father  his  wife's 
falsifications  are  merely  to  shield  the  children  and  she  only 
shows  the  ordinary  deceit  of  woman.  We  have  no  history 
of  this  woman  ever  having  indulged  in  elaborate  fabrications 
and,  in  general,  she  is  of  thoroughly  good  reputation.  In 
delicacy  of  feature  the  girl  is  her  mother  over  again. 

Gertrude's  birth  was  comparatively  easy  after  a  normal 
pregnancy.  After  a  healthy  first  infancy  she  had  an  illness 
at  2  years  which  lasted  for  three  or  four  months.  The  exact 
nature  of  this  is  not  plain,  but  it  was  probably  bronchitis 
with  complications.  There  were  no  evidences  of  any  involve- 
ment of  the  nervous  system.  She  walked  and  talked  early, 
at  about  1  year  of  age.  She  has  had  no  other  serious  illness 


120  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

in  all  her  life  and  has  had  no  convulsions.  None  of  the 
children  has  suffered  from  convulsions.  Gertrude  is  one  of 
five,  all  of  whom  are  alive  and  well.  In  the  last  couple  of 
years  she  has  complained  a  little  of  headaches  and  some 
other  minor  troubles.  It  was  typical  of  the  family  situation 
that  after  Gertrude  had  told  us  of  a  series  of  fainting  spells  a 
year  previously,  the  mother  corroborated  her  and,  indeed, 
made  them  out  even  worse.  But  when  the  reliable  father 
was  consulted  on  the  matter  it  turned  out  there  had  been  no 
such  fainting  attacks,  nor  could  they  be  verified  by  com- 
munication with  a  doctor  who  is  said  to  have  attended 
Gertrude.  Unquestionably  they  never  occurred.  Gertrude 
went  to  school  at  the  usual  age,  but  on  account  of  poverty 
and  immigration  missed  many  long  periods.  However,  at 
14  she  had  gone  through  the  6th  grade. 

About  Gertrude's  moral  evolution  we  got  very  little  aid 
from  the  parents  or  indeed  from  any  others.  It  was  very 
evident  that  from  earliest  childhood  the  girl  had  led  a  mental 
life  of  which  her  relatives  knew  nothing.  Naturally,  the 
mother  gave  us  no  account  of  the  development  of  the  ten- 
dency to  lying;  she  merely  glossed  over  her  daughter's 
deceptions.  The  father,  who  had  been  obliged  to  work  away 
from  home  much  during  Gertrude's  early  years,  merely 
knew  that  at  about  the  time  she  left  school,  namely  14  years, 
she  began  to  lie  excessively. 

Anything  like  a  complete  account^of  Gertrude's  prevarica- 
tions, even  as  we  know  them,  would  require  much  space. 
Some  idea  of  their  quantity  and  quality  may  be  gained  from 
the  facts  which  we  have  gleaned  from  several  sources.  As 
might  be  supposed,  Gertrude  has  established  a  reputation 
for  falsification  among  many  of  her  acquaintances.  One 
friend  tells  how  she  represented  herself  as  a  half  orphan, 
living  with  a  hard-hearted  step-mother.  Demanding  prom- 
ises of  secrecy,  Gertrude  told  this  girl  about  a  sum  which 


PATHOLOGICAL  LYING  AND  SWINDLING 

she  had  with  much  difficulty  gradually  saved  from  her  earn- 
ings in  order  to  buy  needed  clothes.  She  asked  the  friend 
to  come  and  help  her  make  a  selection.  (Now  the  $20  or  so 
that  was  spent  Gertrude  had  stolen.  By  following  her 
strange  impulse  she,  with  danger  to  herself,  related  a  com- 
plicated story  to  this  other  girl  who  needed  to  know  nothing 
of  any  part  of  the  affair.)  We  have  knowledge  of  scores  of 
other  fabrications  which  were  detected.  They  include  her 
alleged  attendance  at  a  course  of  lectures,  her  possession  of  a 
certain  library  card,  and  her  working  in  various  places.  For 
many  of  these  stories  not  a  shadow  of  a  reason  appeared 
—  especially  during  the  time  we  have  known  her  she  has 
had  every  incentive  to  tell  the  truth  about  everything. 

When  by  virtue  of  our  court  work  we  first  knew  the  case, 
her  lying  centered  about  her  other  delinquencies,  but  even 
so  its  peculiar  characteristics  stood  out  sharply. 

Gertrude  was  held  to  the  adult  court  in  the  matter  of  the 
forgery  of  a  check,  which  had  been  presented  in  an  envelope 
to  a  bank  teller  by  her  and  cashed  as  in  the  regular  line  of 
business  between  the  bank  and  the  firm  for  which  she  worked. 
Finding  the  girl  had  lied  about  her  age,  she  was  held,  after 
the  preliminary  hearing,  to  the  proper  court.  There,  in 
turn,  she  did  not  appear  at  the  right  time,  it  being  stated 
that  she  was  sick  in  a  hospital.  One  officer  knew  better  and 
further  investigation  showed  that  Gertrude  herself  had  come 
to  the  court,  represented  herself  as  her  sister,  and  made  the 
false  statement  about  the  illness.  A  telephone  call  the  same 
afternoon  to  her  house  Gertrude  answered. 

Months  of  difficulty  with  the  case  began  now.  Her 
employer  and  all  concerned  experienced  much  difficulty  in 
getting  at  the  truth  of  the  forgery,  particularly  through  her 
clever  implication  of  a  man  who  had  no  easy  task  in  freeing 
himself.  Even  after  the  girl  confessed  herself  a  confirmed 
liar  she  told  more  untruths  which  were  peculiarly  hard  to 


PATHOLOGICAL   LYING 

unravel.  Gertrude's  firm  bearing,  her  comparative  refine- 
ment and  her  ability  made  every  one  unusually  anxious  to  do 
her  justice,  and  to  save  her  from  her  own  self -damaging 
tendencies. 

During  the  continuance  of  the  case,  when  all  her  interests 
demanded  her  good  behavior,  Gertrude  could  not  refrain 
from  what  were  almost  orgies  of  lying  and  deceit.  She  well 
realized  how  this  would  count  against  her  and,  indeed,  wrote 
letters  of  apology  repeatedly  for  her  misconduct. 

"Let  me  come  and  tell  you  all.  The  time  has  come  when 
things  must  stop,  therefore  I  feel  that  I  must  talk  to  some- 
one. I  have  lived  a  lie  from  the  day  I  was  born  until  now." 

After  these  letters  she  went  on  making  false  statements 
which  could  readily  be  checked  up.  Nothing  is  any  more 
curious  in  Gertrude's  case  than  the  anomaly  of  her  telling 
several  of  us  who  tried  to  help  her  that  up  to  the  time  of  the 
given  interview  she  had  not  thoroughly  realized  how  bad  it 
was  to  lie,  and  how  she  now  felt  keenly  that  she  must  cease, 
while  perhaps  at  the  end  of  the  very  same  interview  a  reaction 
to  a  new  situation  would  produce  more  fabrications.  Per- 
sonally I  have  seen  nothing  any  more  suggestive  of  the  typical 
toper's  good  resolutions  and  sudden  falling  from  grace. 

The  story  of  the  forged  check  was  fancifully  embellished 
and  ever  more  details  were  supplied  at  pleasure.  While 
this  matter  was  under  investigation  Gertrude  stayed  away 
from  home  several  nights,  two  of  which  have  never  been 
accounted  for.  She  told  fairly  plausible  stories  about  going 
out  of  town,  but  she  first  should  have  studied  time  tables  to 
make  them  wholly  convincing.  The  mother,  too,  told  that 
the  girl  had  been  out  of  town,  but  in  this  she  was  caught, 
for  it  was  found  that  Gertrude  had  been  part  of  the  time 
with  other  relatives. 

The  main  story  of  the  check  involved  a  man  who  worked 
in  the  same  office.  She  stated  that  he  made  an  immoral 


PATHOLOGICAL  LYING  AND  SWINDLING    123 

proposal  to  her  on  the  basis  of  immunity  from  prosecution. 
After  a  couple  of  months  Gertrude  got  round  to  confessing 
that  she  alone  was  responsible  for  the  entire  forgery  and  that 
her  previous  quite  clever  stories  were  not  true.  Her  main 
confession  was  made  in  the  form  of  a  long  letter  written 
entirely  aside  from  the  influence  of  any  one.  In  this  she 
also  stated  that  she  had  stolen  money  and  jewelry,  which 
was  known  to  have  been  taken.  There  was  no  untrue  self- 
accusation,  except  that  she  may  have  exaggerated  her  own 
tendency  to  falsify  at  a  very  early  age.  Naturally,  in  such 
a  case  as  this,  even  the  latest  confession  must  always  be 
taken  cum  grano  salis. 

Passing  from  the  above  probably  sufficient  account  of 
Gertrude's  falsifications  as  we  knew  them,  we  can  take  up 
her  mental  life  and  traits.  We  have  had  to  rely  on  the  girl 
herself,  as  we  stated  above,  for  many  of  these  facts.  She 
was  brought  up  in  poor  circumstances  in  a  manufacturing 
town  in  England  where  there  had  been  many  labor  troubles. 
On  two  occasions  when  she  was  a  child  she  had  seen  encoun- 
ters on  the  street,  and  during  one  riot  in  their  neighborhood 
her  uncle  was  injured.  She  was  considerably  frightened,  but, 
so  far  as  we  could  learn,  this  was  the  only  time  in  her  life 
that  she  experienced  any  fear.  Very  early  she  found  that 
stories  told  to  frighten  her  were  untrue,  and  what  was  said 
about  the  undesirability  of  certain  children  as  playmates 
proved  false  when  she  came  to  know  them.  She  early  dis- 
covered that  for  self-satisfaction  she  would  have  to  live  a 
mental  life  of  her  own.  There  were  many  things  which  she 
could  not  discuss  with  her  mother.  In  early  childhood  she 
was  a  great  reader  of  novels  and  spent  many  hours  lying  on 
the  bed  living  an  imaginary  life.  She  never  discussed  her 
ideas  with  any  one.  Later  she  took  to  more  serious  reading, 
and  of  recent  years  she  has  assailed  many  of  the  world's 
greatest  problems.  Particularly  she  tells  of  the  influence 


124  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

of  Tolstoi's  "Kreutzer  Sonata*'  upon  her.  During  two 
years  she  has  read  it  four  times  and  it  has  convinced  her  of  the 
shams  of  character  and  that  people  lead  dual  lives. 

When  she  was  about  9  or  10  years  old  she  began  talking 
with  other  girls  about  sex  problems  and  up  to  the  present 
time  has  never  consulted  any  grown  person  about  them. 
Her  first  information  of  this  kind  was  obtained  from  a  crowd 
of  girls  who  used  successfully  to  lie  to  their  teachers  and 
mothers  to  get  out  of  school  work.  Going  further  into  the 
question  of  this  hidden  knowledge  of  sex  things,  she  tells  us 
she  has  never  worried  much  about  the  things  she  has  heard, 
but  she  has  wondered  a  great  deal  and  they  have  often  come 
up  in  her  mind.  She  pursued  the  course  of  asking  many 
girls  what  they  knew  about  this  subject  and  then,  getting 
unsatisfactory  answers,  picked  up  what  she  could  from  ordi- 
nary literature.  Gertrude  maintains  that  all  her  dwelling 
upon  sex  affairs  never  aroused  within  her  any  specific  desires. 
(Gertrude  is  anything  but  a  sensuous  type  and  it  may  be 
that  her  statement  in  this  respect  is  true.)  When  she  went 
to  work  she  fell  in  with  girls  who  talked  excessively  about 
boys  and  sex  affairs,  but  at  this  time  she  had  a  mental  world 
of  her  own  and  so  did  not  pay  much  attention  to  them. 
Gertrude  talked  much  to  us  of  the  possibility  of  her  studying 
civil  law,  history,  economics,  and  so  on  —  it  is  very  clear  that 
she  has  really  dwelt  on  the  possibility  of  being  a  student  of 
serious  subjects. 

Very  willingly  this  young  woman  entered  into  the  problem 
of  solving  the  genesis  of  her  own  tendencies.  She  repeatedly 
said  that  she,  of  all  things,  wanted  to  break  herself  of  this. 
She  maintains  she  can  perceive  no  beginnings.  It  seems 
to  her  as  if  she  has  always  been  that  way.  She  spoke  at  first 
of  this  crowd  of  girls  who  successfully  lied  to  their  parents 
and  talked  to  her  about  sex  things,  and  we  are  inclined  to 
believe  that  this  really  may  have  been  the  beginning,  but 


PATHOLOGICAL  LYING  AND  SWINDLING 

later  she  affirms  this  was  not  the  beginning  and  that  her 
lying  began  in  earlier  childhood.  All  that  she  knows  is 
that  it  has  grown  to  be  a  habit  and  now  "when  I  speak  it 
comes  right  out."  After  she  has  told  a  lie  she  never  thinks 
about  it  again  one  way  or  another.  Her  conscience  does  not 
trouble  her  in  the  matter.  She  does  not  tell  lies  for  what  she 
gets  out  of  it,  nor  does  it  give  her  any  particular  pleasure  to 
fool  people.  She  does  not  invent  her  stories,  but  at  the  time 
of  talking  to  people  she  simply  says  untrue  things  without 
any  thought  beforehand  and  without  any  consideration 
afterward.  To  one  officer  she  flung  the  challenge,  "Oh,  I'm 
clever,  you'll  find  that  out."  After  months  of  effort  and 
when  it  was  clear  that  the  girl  for  her  own  good  must  be 
given  a  course  of  training  in  an  institution  she  quite  ac- 
quiesced in  the  wisdom  of  such  procedure,  after  a  few  hours' 
rebellion. 

It  has  been  noted  by  many  that  one  of  Gertrude's  out- 
standing traits  is  her  lack  of  emotion.  She  never  cries  and 
only  rarely  does  the  semblance  of  a  blush  tinge  her  cheeks. 
She  neither  loves  nor  hates  strongly.  She  seems  remarkably 
calm  under  conditions  where  others  storm.  She  says  she 
never  is  frightened,  that  she  never  worries,  or  is  sorry.  She 
is  well  aware  of  her  own  ego ;  that  she  may  be  trespassing 
upon  the  rights  of  others  never  seems  to  enter  her  head. 
Certain  simulations  of  physical  ailments,  which  at  times  she 
showed,  we  could  only  interpret  as  part  of  her  general  ten- 
dency to  misrepresent. 

Our  summary  of  the  causative  factors  in  this  case,  made, 
unfortunately,  partly  on  the  basis  of  this  unreliable  girl's 
testimony,  offers  the  following  explanation  of  her  remarkable 
tendencies : 

(a)  There  was  early  development  of  an  inner  life  which  dealt 
vividly  in  imaginary  situations.  This  grew  into  a  mental 
existence  hidden  entirely  from  the  members  of  her  family. 


126  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

(6)  There  was  early  experience  with  successful  lying  on  the 
part  of  others,  and  this  as  a  main  episode  probably  occurred 
at  the  time  when  the  emotion  natural  to  first  knowledge  of 
sex  life  was  present. 

(c)  There  was  frequent  experience  with  the  falsifications 
which  were  her  mother's  frailty. 

(d)  For  her  lying  there  were  no  parental  disciplines  or 
corrections  at  any  time,  so  far  as  we  have  been  able  to  learn. 

(e)  The  young  woman  shows  unusually  little  emotion, 
and  only  sporadically  demonstrates  conscience. 

(/)  There  is  unquestionably  marked  habit  formation  in  the 
case. 


Habit  formation :  Very  strong.  Case  8. 

Lack  of  parental  correction.  Girl,  age  17  years. 

Early  experience  with  lying. 

Development  of  inner  life:     Imaginative  and 

hidden. 
Delinquencies : 

Excessive  lying  and  misrepresentation. 

False  accusations. 

Forging.  Mentality : 

Stealing.  Good  ability. 


CASE  9 

Summary:  A  girl  of  14  had  been  notoriously  untruthful  for 
years.  She  had  created  much  trouble  by  her  petty  false  accusa- 
tions, and  her  lying  stood  often  in  the  way  of  her  own  satisfac- 
tions and  advantages.  Analysis  of  the  case  shows  the  girl's  dual 
moral  and  social  experiences  and  tendencies,  her  inner  conflicts 
about  the  same,  and  her  remarkably  vivid  mental  imagery  — 
all  of  which  leads  her  to  doubt  sometimes  concerning  what  is 
true  and  what  is  false. 


PATHOLOGICAL  LYING  AND  SWINDLING   127 

A  strange  admixture  of  races,  of  religion,  and  of  social  and 
moral  tendencies  was  brought  out  in  the  study  of  Amanda 
R.  and  of  her  family  conditions.  We  were  much  helped  in 
the  study  of  this  case,  which  has  long  been  a  source  of  many 
social  difficulties,  by  the  intelligence  of  certain  relatives  who 
knew  well  the  family  facts,  and  also  by  the  good  mental 
capacities  of  the  girl  herself. 

Amanda  is  an  orphan  and  has  been  living  for  years  with 
relatives.  She  has  caused  them  and  others,  even  those  who 
have  tried  to  help  her,  extreme  annoyance  on  account  of  her 
quite  unnecessary  lies,  her  accusations,  and  some  other 
delinquent  tendencies.  The  main  trouble  all  concede  to  be 
her  falsifications,  which  vary  from  direct  denials  to  elaborate 
stories  invented  without  any  seeming  reason  whatever. 
Reports  on  her  conduct  have  come  from  a  number  of  different 
sources.  Neighbors  have  complained  that  she  has  come  to 
them  and  borrowed  money  with  the  statement  that  her 
family  was  hard  up.  At  school  she  stated  for  a  time  that 
she  had  come  unprovided  with  lunch  because  her  people 
were  so  poor,  but  it  was  ascertained  that  she  had  thrown 
away  her  lunch  each  day.  The  lies  which  she  told  to  the 
other  school  children  were  extraordinarily  numerous  and 
fertile;  unfortunately  they  sometimes  involved  details 
about  improper  sex  experiences.  A  long  story  was  made  up 
about  one  of  her  relatives  having  committed  suicide  and  was 
told  to  the  school  teachers  and  others.  She  defamed  the 
character  of  one  of  her  aunts.  To  her  pastor  she  told  some 
outrageous  falsehoods.  A  home  for  delinquent  girls,  where 
she  was  once  placed  on  account  of  her  general  bad  behavior, 
would  not  put  up  with  her,  so  much  trouble  arose  from  her 
prevarications.  She  accused  the  very  good  people  there  of 
not  treating  her  well  because  she  was  not  of  their  race.  All 
of  the  above  is  quite  apart  from  the  girl's  own  romantic 
stories  which  have  been  told  in  her  family  circle  and  have 


128  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

done  no  especial  harm.  Of  these  we  had  the  best  account 
from  the  girl  herself. 

An  intelligent  relative  gave  an  account  of  the  facts. 
Amanda  has  been  tried  in  a  number  of  households,  but  has 
been  given  up  by  everyone  after  a  short  period  of  trial.  Her 
word  is  found  so  unreliable  that  in  general  she  is  regarded  as 
thoroughly  untrustworthy.  This  particular  relative,  who  is 
most  interested  in  her,  tells  us  she  thinks  the  girl  is  mentally 
peculiar.  She  states  that  in  general  her  mind  is  both  roman- 
tic and  rambling.  She  constantly  has  the  idea  that  her 
beauty  will  bring  her  a  wealthy  husband.  She  lies  about 
other  people  to  these  relatives  and  about  them  to  others. 
They  have  a  comfortable  home  and  are  very  anxious  for 
Amanda  to  do  well,  and  many  times  have  had  serious  talks 
with  her,  all  to  no  purpose.  They  themselves  have  attempted 
to  analyze  the  nature  of  the  girl's  characteristics,  and  say  it 
is  quite  evident  that  the  telling  of  untruths  with  this  girl  is 
the  result  of  quick  reaction  on  her  part.  Fictions  of  all 
kinds  come  up  in  her  mind  constantly  and  are  uttered  quickly. 
It  is  doubtful  whether  she  premeditates  her  stories.  She  has 
threatened  suicide.  They  think  she  is  the  biggest  liar  that 
ever  lived  and  can't  understand  how  she  can  engage  in  such 
unforesighted  behavior  \unless  she  is  somewhat  abnormal. 
Only  once  did  they  ever  notice  anything  suggestive  of  a 
mental  peculiarity  other  than  her  lying.  Then  she  did  talk 
quite  incoherently  and  at  random  for  a  time  (she  is  a  great 
talker  anyhow),  but  later  she  said  she  realized  what  she  had 
done,  and  said  not  to  mind  her  —  she  had  just  let  her  tongue 
rattle  on  and  did  not  mean  anything  by  it. 

On  two  or  three  occasions  Amanda  has  started  to  school 
in  the  morning  and  wandered  off  and  kept  going  all  day. 
She  had  been  immoral  with  boys,  but  not  to  any  great  extent. 
She  undertook  to  be  religious  for  a  time,  but  her  sincerity 
was  always  in  question.  She  knows  the  character  of  her 


PATHOLOGICAL  LYING  AND  SWINDLING  129 

own  mother  and  threatens  at  times  to  follow  in  her 
tracks. 

The  racial  heredity  of  this  girl  is  a  strange  mixture.  Her 
father  was  a  Scandinavian  and  her  mother  colored.  The 
maternal  grandfather  was  colored,  and  the  maternal  grand- 
mother was  an  alcoholic  Irish  woman  and  died  in  an  insane 
hospital.  It  is  possible,  also,  that  there  is  Indian  blood  in 
the  family.  The  mother  kept  an  immoral  resort  and  drank 
at  times.  The  father  is  said,  even  by  his  wife's  relative,  to 
have  died  some  years  ago  of  a  broken  heart  about  her  career. 
She  died  of  tuberculosis  a  few  years  after  him.  Amanda  was 
the  only  child.  About  the  early  developmental  history 
we  have  no  reliable  information.  The  girl  was  taken  by 
relatives  before  her  mother  died,  but  was  allowed  to 
visit  her,  and  there  was  evidently  real  affection  between 
mother  and  daughter.  Long  contention  over  religious 
affairs  in  the  family  led  to  some  bickering  about  placing 
the  girl. 

We  found  Amanda  to  be  rather  a  good  looking  girl  with 
very  slight  evidences  of  colored  blood.  Quiet  and  normal 
in  her  attitude  and  expression.  Slightly  built  —  weight 
93  Ibs.;  height  4  ft.  10  in.  Vision  R.  20/80,  L.  20/25. 
Coarse  tremor  of  outstretched  hands.  No  evidence  of 
specific  disease.  All  other  examination  negative.  The  girl 
complains  of  occasional  sick  headaches  with  photophobia. 
Pelvic  examination  by  a  specialist  negative. 

On  the  mental  side  we  quickly  found  we  had  to  deal  with 
a  girl  of  decidedly  good  general  ability.  Tests  were  almost 
uniformly  done  well.  Memory  processes  decidedly  good  — 
span  for  eight  numbers  auditorily  and  for  seven  numbers 
visually.  No  evidence  whatever  of  aberration. 

Results  on  the  "Aussage"  test:  Amanda  on  free  recital 
gave  12  details  of  the  picture ;  on  questioning  she  mentioned 
32  more  items,  but  a  dozen  of  these  were  incorrect.  Of  7 


130  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

suggestions  offered  she  accepted  6.  This  was  an  exception- 
ally inaccurate  performance. 

In  the  course  of  our  study  of  this  case  we  obtained  from 
Amanda  a  very  good  account  of  her  own  life,  deeply  tragic 
in  its  details,  and  a  probably  correct  analysis  of  her  begin- 
nings in  lying.  It  seems  that  she  remembers  well  her  mother, 
particularly  in  the  later  visits  which  the  relatives  allowed. 
These  must  have  been  when  she  was  about  5  or  6  years  old. 
"I  know  a  lot.  There  isn't  anything  bad  that  I  have  not 
seen  and  heard.  I  try  to  forget  it,  but  I  can't.  What's  the 
use  anyhow?  When  I  think  of  my  mother  it  all  comes  up 
again.  When  I  was  very  little  I  would  sit  in  a  room  with 
my  mother  and  a  crowd  of  her  friends  and  they  would  say 
everything  in  front  of  me.  I  would  see  men  and  women  go 
into  rooms  and  I  kept  wondering  what  they  did  in  there. 
I  tli ink  I  was  quicker  and  sharper  then  than  I  am  now.  I 
think  I  was  about  3  when  I  used  to  see  them  smoking  and 
drinking.  Then  I  used  to  think  it  was  all  right.  I  thought 
it  was  swell  and  that  I  would  like  to  do  it  too.  I  thought 
about  it  a  lot.  Mother,  you  see,  would  tell  me  to  be  good 
one  minute  and  the  next  would  teach  me  how  to  swear.  I 
remember  once  when  I  was  about  7  they  brought  her  home 
drunk.  She  looked  terrible.  I  can  close  my  eyes  and  see  her 
just  as  plainly  as  if  it  is  there  before  me.  A  protective  society 
once  found  me  and  took  me  to  their  place.  Then  I  lived  with 
my  grandfather.  Mother  stole  me  from  them  and  then  my 
uncle  took  me.  I  lived  around  in  lots  of  places.  I  have  done 
lots  of  bad  things 

"  I  picture  these  things  too  —  I  can't  help  it.  The  pic- 
tures come  up  in  my  mind  as  plain  as  can  be  —  not  just  at 
night,  but  in  the  daytime  too.  The  only  thing  I  have  ever 
been  really  afraid  of  is  the  dark.  Then  I  imagine  I  hear 
people  talking.  I  see  things  too.  I  see  whole  shows  that  I 
have  been  to.  But  then,  as  I  have  said,  I  see  them  when  I'm 


PATHOLOGICAL  LYING  AND  SWINDLING  131 

awake  and  in  the  daytime.  I  dream  about  them  also. 
Sometimes  they  are  so  real  I  don't  know  whether  I'm  asleep 
or  awake.  For  instance,  a  long  time  ago  I  read  Peck's  Bad 
Boy  and  I  can  see  those  pictures  now  just  as  plain  as  when  I 
read  the  book.  It  is  always  that  way  about  what  I  read. 
The  things  I  read  I  always  see  in  pictures.  It's  that  way  with 
the  love  stories  too.  I  used  to  read  lots  and  lots  of  them. 
I  like  to  read  about  murders.  I  can  see  those  too.  When  I 
read  about  the  R.  murder  in  the  papers  lately  I  just  felt  like 
I  was  there.  I  could  see  everything  he  did.  I  don't  know 
why  I  like  to  read  such  things  so  much.  It  was  the  same  way 
last  winter.  I  read  a  story  with  suicide  in  it  and  someway 
I  just  wanted  to  commit  suicide  myself.  I  did  go  to  the 
railroad  tracks  and  stood  around  until  the  train  came  and 

then  walked  away 

"My  aunt  says  that  I  am  too  attractive  and  that  I  stare 
at  the  men.  Well,  when  she  was  with  me  a  man  did  stare  at 
me  and  I  stared  back  at  him.  I  could  have  turned  my  head 
away,  but  I'm  not  that  kind  of  a  girl.  I'm  a  bad  girl.  Every- 
one believes  me  so  and  I  might  just  as  well  be.  When  I  was 
little  in  my  mother's  place  I  used  to  smoke  and  drink.  I 
dream  every  night  —  often  about  men  doing  bad  things. 
I  wake  up  and  sit  up  to  see  if  men  are  there  or  if  they  are  gone. 
My  dreams  are  always  just  that  plain.  If  I  read  a  book  I 
can  sit  down  and  imagine  all  the  people  are  right  before  me. 
I  can  get  it  just  by  reading.  If  anybody  speaks  to  me  I 
jump,  and  it  is  all  gone.  When  I  go  to  the  theatre  or  the 
nickel  show  I  can  come  home  and  see  the  whole  show 
over  again.  I  have  been  that  way  ever  since  I  could 
understand  things.  When  I  was  small  and  people  would 
tell  me  things  I  could  imagine  them  right  in  front  of  me. 
Even  now  I  will  be  sitting  still  and  I  will  imagine  I  see  my 
mother  taking  me  up  in  the  way  she  used  to.  When  I  came 
to  see  her  she  would  rock  me  to  sleep,  and  I  can  plainly  see 


132  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

her  lying  in  the  coffin.  Often  I  think  I  see  my  mother 
brought  home  drunk. 

"If  I  have  anything  to  recite  in  school  I  just  think  of  it 
all  the  time.  I  dream  a  good  deal  about  what  that  boy  did 
and  about  these  other  things.  I  can  sit  and  think  of  every- 
thing he  did  to  me.  I  go  to  bed  and  I  lie  awake  and  think  all 
these  things  and  I  can't  get  them  off  my  mind  and  then  I 
start  to  dreaming  about  them. 

"  There  is  always  this  trouble  —  my  mother  wasn't  good 
and  I  can't  be  good.  That's  what  people  say,  but,  of  course, 
that's  not  so.  I  know  I  start  talking  to  girls  about  these 
things  when  they  are  talking  to  me.  I  sometimes  think  that 
things  will  come  back  —  that  the  Chicago  fire  is  coining 
back,  and  that  slavery  is  coming  back. 

"About  my  lying?  I  don't  know  why  I  tell  things  like 
that  about  my  aunt  committing  suicide  —  it  just  came  into 
my  head.  Oh,  I've  got  lots  of  things  in  my  head.  I  never 
had  any  chance  to  forget.  I  can't  forget  at  school.  School 
does  not  interest  me  any  more.  That's  why  I  want  to  go  to 
work.  Perhaps  then  I  should  be  interested  in  something 
new. 

"I  used  to  tell  lots  of  things  that  were  not  so  out  there  at 
P.  Sometimes  I  did  it  as  a  joke  and  sometimes  I  meant  it. 
It  is  hard  sometimes  to  tell  just  what  is  the  truth,  I  imagine 
things  so  hard.  I  can  remember  lots  that  I've  read." 

Amanda  in  several  interviews  went  on  at  great  length  in  a 
very  rational  way,  but  altogether  the  gist  of  her  view  of  her 
case  is  to  be  found  in  the  above.  She  told  that  she  was  a 
masturbator,  as  might  be  supposed.  She  feels  she  can't 
help  this  and  never  felt  it  was  so  particularly  bad.  Appar- 
ently it  is  a  part  of  her  life  of  imagination  at  night.  She 
insisted  frequently  on  the  vividness  of  her  mental  content, 
and  indeed  was  anxious  to  talk  about  her  peculiarities  in  this 
respect.  It  was  very  apparent  that  she  showed  real  under- 


PATHOLOGICAL  LYING  AND  SWINDLING  133 

standing  of  the  forces  which  had  influenced  her.  It  should 
be  noted  that  we  felt  sure  that  it  is  not  only  the  strength  of 
imagery,  namely,  of  actually  recollected  material,  but  also  of 
imagination  which  is  characteristic  of  this  girl's  mental 
make-up.  This  was  noticeable,  as  we  have  shown  above, 
in  the  "Aussage"  Test.  In  our  notes  on  psychological 
findings  we  stated  that  the  girl  has  both  strong  emotions 
and  strong  convictions,  together  with  her  other  qualities. 
She  expressed  herself  with  considerable  vehemence,  and 
under  observation  we  noted  changes  from  pleasantness  to 
extremely  ugly  looks  when  her  relatives  were  mentioned. 
It  was  true  that  she  had  seen  immorality  in  other  households 
than  that  of  her  mother,  and  this,  of  course,  rendered  her 
even  more  skeptical  about  true  values  in  life. 

It  seemed  clear  that  this  bright  girl  had  experienced  so 
many  contradictions  in  life  that  she  was  much  mixed  about  it 
all.  We  might  venture  to  suggest  that  the  delinquency 
involved  in  lying  could  seem  very  little  compared  to  the 
actual  deeds  with  which  she  had  come  in  contact.  No  idea 
that  falsification  was  wrong  was  expressed  by  her.  She  had 
used  double  sets  of  standards  in  behavior  all  through  her 
life.  What  she  was  urged  to  be  and  to  do  seemed  impossible 
in  the  light  of  her  past  and  its  connections.  Even  her  ap- 
parent decency  belied  the  reality  underlying  her  career,  she 
thought.  With  all  this  and  her  vivid  imagery  it  is  little 
wonder  that  her  magnificent  powers  of  imagination  had  full 
sway  and  that  she  said  and  half  believed  all  sorts  of  things 
which  were  not  true.  Then,  probably,  habit-formation 
of  indulging  in  day-dreams  accentuated  the  falsifying 
tendency. 

It  is  too  early  to  report  on  further  progress  of  this  case. 
For  some  months  she  has  been  in  a  school  for  girls  where 
discipline  and  education  are  both  emphasized. 


134  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 


Mental  traits :  special  powers  of  imagery  Case  9. 

and  imagination.          Girl,  age  14  years. 
Early  immoral  experiences :   much  later  conflict 

about  them. 

Home  conditions :   unstable  for  many  years. 
Heredity  (  ?) :   mother  immoral, 

maternal  grandmother  al- 
coholic and  insane. 
Delinquencies :  Mentality : 

Excessive  lying.  Good  general  ability, 

Sex.  special  capacities. 


CASE  10 

Summary:  A  boy  of  14,  supernormal  in  ability,  coming  from 
family  circumstances  which  form  a  remarkable  antithesis  to  his 
intellectual  interests,  is  found  to  be  a  wonderful  fabricator. 
His  continuous  lying  proves  to  be  directly  inimical  to  his  own 
interests  and,  indeed,  his  own  satisfactions  are  thwarted  by  the 
curious  unreliability  of  his  word.  The  case  unfortunately  was 
not  followed  far,  but  study  of  it  clearly  shows  beginnings  in  the 
early  obtaining  of  advantages  by  lying,  and  brings  out  the  won- 
derful dramatic  and  imaginative  traits  of  the  boy  and  his  forma- 
tion of  a  habit  of  falsification. 

This  case  in  its  showing  of  intrinsic  characteristics  and 
incidental  facts  is  of  great  interest.  Robert  R.  for  about  a 
year  when  he  was  14  years  old  we  knew  intimately,  but  after 
that  on  account  of  the  removal  of  the  family  we  have  no 
further  history  of  him.  Intellectually  and  in  his  family  and 
home  background  he  presented  a  remarkable  phenomenon. 
His  parents  were  old-country  peasants  who  just  before 
Robert  was  born  came  to  the  United  States.  The  father 
had  never  been  to  school  in  his  life  and  could  not  read  or 
write.  Here  he  was  a  laborer ;  before  immigration  he  had 
been  a  goose-herd.  The  mother  was  said  to  have  had  a  little 


PATHOLOGICAL  LYING  AND  SWINDLING  135 

schooling  at  home  and  could  read  and  write  a  little  in  her 
native  language.  In  15  years  in  the  United  States  she  had 
failed  to  learn  to  speak  English.  It  is  needless  to  say  that 
our  knowledge  of  the  forebears  is  almost  nil.  Inquiry  about 
mental  peculiarities  in  the  family  brought  negative  answers. 
These  parents  had  had  nine  children,  seven  of  whom  had 
died  in  early  infancy.  Robert  was  the  older  of  the  two  living. 
We  did  not  learn  that  the  other  child  displayed  any  abnor- 
malities. The  mother  helped  towards  the  support  of  the 
family  by  doing  coarse  sewing. 

About  the  developmental  history  we  had  the  assurance 
that  it  was  entirely  negative  as  regards  serious  diseases. 
Pregnancy  and  birth  were  said  to  have  been  normal.  For 
long,  Robert  had  been  very  nervous  and  frequently  slept 
an  unusually  small  number  of  hours.  Sometimes  he  would 
go  to  bed  very  late  and  get  up  early.  Although  he  was  a  very 
small  boy  he  was  accustomed  to  drinking  six  or  seven  cups  of 
coffee  a  day.  No  suspicion  from  any  source  of  other  bad 
habits  or  of  improper  sex  experiences.  The  boy's  home  was 
clean  and  decent.  The  father  was  accustomed  to  celebrate 
once  a  month  or  so  by  getting  intoxicated,  but  otherwise  was 
a  well  behaved  man. 

On  physical  examination  we  found  the  boy  in  fair  general 
condition,  although  very  small  for  his  age.  Weight  80  Ibs. ; 
height  4  ft.  7  in.  Well  shaped,  normally  sized  head.  No 
prematurity  or  other  physical  abnormality.  Somewhat 
defective  vision.  No  complaint  of  headaches.  All  other 
examination  negative.  Regular  sharp  features.  Much  vivac- 
ity of  expression.  A  nervous,  alert,  responsive,  apparently 
frank  and  humorous  type.  Speech  notably  rapid. 

Our  acquaintance  with  this  boy  on  the  intellectual  side 
proved  to  be  a  great  treat.  He  was  only  in  the  4th  grade. 
His  retardation  was  the  result  of  having  been  changed  back 
and  forth  from  foreign-speaking  to  English  schools  and  having 


136  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

been  sent  away  to  an  institution  for  truancy.  In  spite  of  his 
backwardness  Robert  had  a  fund  of  remarkably  accurate 
scientific  and  other  information  which  a  mature  person 
might  envy.  We  found  our  regular  series  of  tests  were  all 
done  unusually  well,  except  those  which  called  for  foresight 
and  planfulness.  It  was  interesting  to  note  that  when  a 
problem  in  concrete  material  was  given  that  required  con- 
tinuous thoughtful  effort  he  proceeded  by  a  rapid  trial  and 
error  method  and  without  the  application  of  the  foresight 
that  many  a  slower  individual  would  show.  He  consequently 
did  not  always  make  a  good  record. 

It  seems  an  important  fact  that  on  the  "Aussage"  Test 
this  exceedingly  bright  lad  gave  a  fairly  good  detailed 
narrative  account  of  the  picture  and  proved  himself  not  in  the 
least  suggestible,  but  he  added  a  number  of  items  which 
were  not  seen. 

It  was  in  the  field  of  general  information,  obtained  from  a 
really  wide  range  of  reading,  that  this  young  boy  shone. 
We  found  that  he  remembered  an  unusual  amount  of  his- 
tory he  had  read,  that  he  had  a  lot  of  knowledge  picked  up 
from  the  newspapers,  and  that  he  had  digested  considerable 
portions  of  scientific  works.  He  described  correctly  the 
main  principles  involved  in  the  use  of  telescopic  and  other 
lenses,  he  knew  well  the  first  principles  of  electricity,  and  he 
could  draw  correctly  diagrams  of  dynamos,  locomotives, 
switchboards,  etc.  We  noted  he  had  read  books  on  physiol- 
ogy, astronomy,  physics,  mechanics,  etc. 

It  seems  that  neither  his  school  nor  his  home  offering  him 
much  intellectual  satisfaction,  he  had  frequented  the  public 
library,  sometimes  being  there  when  he  was  truant  from 
school,  and  staying  there  in  the  evening  when  his  mother 
supposed  he  was  out  in  a  street  gang.  In  regard  to  his  selec- 
tion of  reading :  he  had  perused  novels  and  books  on  adven- 
ture, but  "I  wanted  to  read  something  that  tells  something 


PATHOLOGICAL  LYING  AND  SWINDLING  137 

so  that  when  I  got  through  I  would  know  something."  He 
copied  plans  and  directions,  and  with  a  hatchet,  hammer  and 
saw  attempted  at  home  to  make  little  things,  some  of  wnich 
were  said  to  have  been  broken  up  by  the  parents.  The  boy 
had  much  in  mind  the  career  of  great  men  who  had  succeeded 
from  small  beginnings,  and  he  spoke  often  of  Benjamin 
Franklin,  Morse,  and  Bell,  all  of  whom  had  started  in  the 
small  way  he  had  read  of  in  their  biographies.  Robert 
had  not  been  content  with  book  knowledge  alone,  but  had 
sought  power-houses  and  other  places  where  he  could  see 
machinery  in  actual  operation. 

Our  acquaintance  with  Robert  began  and  continued  on 
account  of  delinquencies  other  than  lying.  He  had  run 
away  from  home  at  one  time,  he  had  stolen  some  electrical 
apparatus  from  a  barn  and  was  found  in  the  middle  of  the 
night  with  it  flashing  a  light  on  the  street.  He  also  had 
taken  money  from  his  parents  and  had  threatened  his  mother 
with  a  hatchet.  After  much  encouragement  and  help  he 
yet  stole  from  people  who  were  trying  to  give  him  a  chance 
to  use  his  special  abilities,  and  he  began  various  minor 
swindling  operations  which  culminated  in  his  attempt  to 
arrest  a  man  at  night,  showing  a  star  and  a  small  revolver. 
Before  we  lost  sight  of  him  Robert  had  gained  the  general 
reputation  of  being  the  most  unreliable  of  individuals. 

Given  splendid  chances  to  use  his  special  capacities,  his 
other  qualities  made  it  impossible  for  him  to  take  advantage 
of  them.  His  wonderful  ability  was  demonstrated  in  the 
school  to  which  he  was  sent ;  there  the  teacher  said  that  if 
she  had  the  opportunity  she  really  believed  she  could  put 
him  through  one  grade  a  month.  His  mental  grasp  on  all 
subjects  was  astonishing  and  he  wrote  most  admirable 
essays,  one  of  the  best  being  on  patriotism.  But  even  under 
the  stable  conditions  of  this  school  for  six  or  seven  months 
the  boy  did  not  refrain  from  an  extreme  amount  of  falsifica- 


138  PATHOLOGICAL   LYING 

tion  and   was   much   disliked   by   the   other   boys  on   ac- 
count of  it. 

Robert  had  continued  his  lying  for  years.  At  the  time 
when  we  were  studying  his  case  his  prevaricating  tendencies 
were  shown  in  the  manufacture  of  long  and  complicated 
stories,  in  the  center  of  which  he  himself  posed  as  the  chief 
actor.  These  phantasies  were  told  to  people,  such  as  our- 
selves, who  could  easily  ascertain  their  falsehood,  and  they 
were  told  after  there  had  been  a  distinct  understanding 
that  anything  which  showed  unreliability  on  his  part  would 
militate  against  his  own  strongly  avowed  desires  and  interests. 
After  special  chances  had  been  given  this  boy  with  the  under- 
standing that  all  that  was  necessary  for  him  to  do  was  to 
alter  his  behavior  in  respect  to  lying,  on  more  than  one 
occasion  new  fabrications  were  evolved  in  the  same  interview 
that  Robert  had  begged  in  fairly  tragic  fashion  to  be  helped 
to  cure  himself  of  his  inclination  to  falsify. 

A  great  love  of  the  dramatic  was  always  displayed  by  this 
boy,  which  may  largely  account  for  the  evolution  of  his 
lying  into  long  and  complicated  stories.  When  truant  one 
day  he  boldly  visited  the  school  for  truants,  and  when  under 
probation,  after  having  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  police 
two  or  three  times,  he  impersonated  a  policeman.  The 
latter  was  such  a  remarkable  occurrence  and  led  to  such  a 
peculiar  situation  that  much  notice  of  it  was  taken  in  the 
newspapers.  The  incongruity  between  apperception  of  his 
own  faults  and  his  continued  lying,  considering  his  good 
mental  endowment,  seemed  very  strange.  One  day  he 
sobbed  and  clung  to  my  arm  and  begged  me  to  be  a  friend  to 
him  and  help  him  from  telling  such  lies.  "I  don't  know  what 
makes  me  do  it.  I  can't  help  it."  Over  and  over  he  asserted 
his  desire  to  be  a  good  man  and  a  great  man.  This  was  at 
the  same  time  when  some  of  his  most  complicated  fabrica- 
tions were  reiterated. 


PATHOLOGICAL  LYING  AND  SWINDLING  139 

No  help  was  to  be  had  from  his  parents  in  getting  at  the 
genesis  of  this  boy's  troubles ;  we  had  to  rely  on  what  seemed 
to  be  the  probable  truth  as  told  by  the  boy  himself.  It  is 
only  fair  to  say  that  in  response  to  many  inquiries  we  did 
receive  reliable  facts  from  the  lad.  My  assistant  also  went 
into  the  question  of  beginnings  and  was  told  at  an  entirely 
different  time  the  same  story.  Robert  always  maintained 
that  his  lying  began  when  he  was  a  very  little  boy,  when  he 
found  out  that  by  telling  his  grandmother  that  his  mother 
was  mean  to  him  he  could  get  things  done  for  him  which  he 
wanted.  Later  it  seems  he  used  to  lie  because  he  was  afraid 
of  being  punished  or  because  he  did  not  like  to  be  scolded. 
We  found  there  was  no  question  about  the  fact  that  his 
parents  never  were  in  sympathy  with  his  library  reading  and 
his  attempts  to  learn  and  be  somebody  in  the  world.  At 
first,  then,  there  seemed  to  be  a  definite  purpose  in  his  lying. 
At  one  time  he  pretended  to  be  hurt  when  taken  in  custody 
and  thought  because  of  this  he  would  be  allowed  to  go  home. 

On  many  occasions  this  boy  made  voluntary  appeal  to  us, 
describing  his  lying  as  a  habit  which  it  was  impossible  for 
him  to  stop,  and  implored  aid  in  the  breaking  of  it.  Up  to 
the  last  that  we  knew  of  him  he  occasionally  made  the 
complaint  to  strangers  of  mistreatment  by  his  family,  which 
in  the  sense  in  which  he  put  it  was  not  true  at  all.  The 
dramatic  nature  of  his  later  stories  seemed  to  fulfill  the  need 
which  the  boy  felt  of  his  being  something  which  he  was  not, 
and  very  likely  belonged  to  the  same  category  of  behavior 
he  displayed  when  he  attempted  to  impersonate  a  policeman 
in  the  middle  of  the  night,  and  to  pose  as  an  amateur  detec- 
tive by  telling  stories  of  alleged  exploits  to  newspaper  re- 
porters. A  long  story  which  he  related  even  to  us,  involving 
his  discovery  of  a  suspicious  man  with  a  satchel  and  his  use 
of  a  taxicab  in  search  for  him,  was  made  up  on  the  basis  of 
his  playing  the  part  of  a  great  man,  a  hero.  When  we  ran 


140  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

down  this  untruth  (it  was  long  after  he  had  told  us  what  a 
liar  he  was)  it  seemed  quite  improbable  that  he  had  suddenly 
improvised  this  story.  It  was  too  elaborate  and  well  sus- 
tained. Later,  when  the  boy  again  tragically  begged  to  be 
helped  from  making  such  falsifications,  he  said  the  incident 
had  been  thought  out  some  days  previously  and  it  seemed  an 
awful  nice  story  about  the  things  that  he  might  do.  Day- 
dreaming thus  masked  as  the  truth. 


Environmental  maladjustment:  Case  10. 

incongruity  between  Boy,  age  14  yrs. 

supernormal  ability  and  home 
conditions. 

'  Innate  characteristics :   nervous,  active, 

dramatic  type. 
Stimulants:  excessive  use  of  coffee. 

Mental  habit-formation. 
Delinquencies :  Mentality : 

Lying  excessive.  Supernormal  in  ability. 

Petty  stealing. 


CASE  11 

Summary:  An  orphan  girl  of  10  had  been  in  several  institu- 
tions and  households,  but  was  found  everywhere  impossible  on 
account  of  her  incorrigibility.  The  greatest  difficulty  was  on 
account  of  her  extreme  lying  which  for  years  had  included  exten- 
sive fabrications  and  rapid  self-contradictions,  as  well  as  defen- 
sive denials  of  delinquency. 

We  were  asked  to  decide  about  this  girl's  mentality  and  to 
give  recommendations  for  her  treatment.  We  need  take 
little  space  for  describing  the  case  because  the  facts  of  develop- 
ment and  heredity  and  of  earliest  mental  experiences  are  not 
known  by  us.  The  case  is  worthy  of  short  description  as 
exemplifying  a  type  and  as  showing  once  more  the  frequent 


PATHOLOGICAL  LYING  AND  SWINDLING  141 

correlation  of  lying  with  other  delinquency,  and  especially 
with  sex  immorality. 

We  found  a  girl  in  good  physical  condition,  small  for  her 
age,  but  without  sensory  defect  or  important  organic  trouble. 
Hutchinsonian  teeth.  High  forehead  and  well  formed 
features.  Expression  old  for  her  years  and  rather  shrewd, 
and  notably  unabashed.  No  evidence  of  pelvic  trouble. 
Clitoris  large.  All  the  other  examination  negative. 

Mentally  we  found  her  rather  precocious.  Tests  well  done. 
Reads  and  does  arithmetic  well  for  her  age,  in  spite  of 
much  changing  about  and  other  school  disadvantages.  No 
evidence  whatever  of  aberration.  The  examiner  noted  that 
she  seemed  a  queer,  sophisticated  child,  laughing  easily  and 
talking  fast  and  freely.  Evidently  tries  to  put  her  best  foot 
forward.  Cooperates  well  on  tests. 

On  the  "Aussage"  test  this  little  girl  did  remarkably  well 
both  as  to  the  details  and  general  ideas  expressed  in  the  pic- 
ture. Absolutely  no  suggestibility  shown.  The  examina- 
tion was  made  before  our  later  methods  of  scoring  this  test, 
and  the  inaccuracies  were  not  counted,  but  even  so  the  posi- 
tive features  are  of  interest,  namely,  the  good  memory  and 
non-suggestibility. 

We  found  this  youngster  all  along  to  be  evasive,  shifting 
and  self-contradictory,  even  on  vital  points.  She  glibly 
stated  anything  that  came  into  her  mind,  and  ideas  came  very 
rapidly.  She  told  us  stories  that  with  a  moment's  thought 
she  must  have  known  we  could  discover  were  false. 

This  child  was  a  foundling,  and  was  adopted  by  people 
whose  family  was  broken  up  by  death  when  she  was  about 
6  years  old.  By  the  time  she  was  8  years  old  she  was  expelled 
from  school  and  was  generally  known  as  an  habitual  liar 
and  a  child  who  showed  most  premature  sex  tendencies. 
She  then  went  much  with  little  boys  and  was  constantly  in 
trouble  for  stealing  as  well.  Occasionally  good  reports  were 


142  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

made  of  her,  but  sometimes  she  was  stated  to  have  a  perfect 
mania  for  taking  things.  A  number  of  people  who  have  tried 
to  help  her  have  spoken  of  the  elaborateness  of  her  verbal 
inventions.  At  one  place  she  destroyed  letters  and  took  a 
check  from  the  mail  and  tore  it  up.  She  talked  freely  of 
sex  affairs  to  many  people,  particularly  to  women,  and  showed 
evidence  of  intense  local  feelings.  At  one  time  she  expressed 
great  desire  to  be  spanked,  probably  from  a  sex  impulse. 
One  intelligent  person  reported  her  as  being  simply  animal- 
like  in  her  desires.  In  a  country  home  a  thoroughly  intelli- 
gent woman  was  unable  to  cope  with  her  and  she  was  finally 
delivered  into  the  hands  of  an  institution. 

Through  dearth  of  reliable  information  about  the  ante- 
cedents in  this  case  we  were  unable  to  make  a  card  of  causa- 
tive factors.  It  is  sure,  however,  that  the  pathological  lying 
and  other  delinquencies  sprang  from  a  background  of  con- 
genital defect,  probably  syphilitic  in  nature,  of  lack  of  early 
parental  care,  of  precocious  sex  desires,  and  sex  experiences. 

In  the  school  for  girls,  where  this  unfortunate  chjld  re- 
mained for  four  years,  it  is  stated  that  her  tendencies  to 
prevarication  were  mitigated,  but  never  entirely  checked. 
Her  school  record  was  decidedly  good  ;  she  was  regarded  as  a 
bright  girl,  and  advanced  rapidly  to  the  eighth  grade.  She 
was  tried  again  in  the  world  midway  in  her  adolescent  period 
with  the  most  untoward  resul  t  s.  She  found  temptations  offered 
by  the  opposite  sex  irresistible  and  began  a  career  of  misrep- 
resentation concerning  her  own  conduct.  Through  her  lies, 
proper  oversight  was  not  given  in  the  home  which  received  her 
once  more.  Pregnancy  ensued  and  again  she  had  to  receive 
institutional  care. 

CASE   12 

Summary:  An  extremely  interesting  case  showing  strong 
development  of  a  tendency  to  swindling  on  the  part  of  a  young 
man  of  curiously  unequal  mental  abilities,  a  subnormal  ver- 


PATHOLOGICAL  LYING  AND  SWINDLING   143 

balist.  Pathological  lying  in  this  case  quite  logically  developed 
into  swindling.  The  main  behavior- tendencies  of  this  individ- 
ual closely  follow  the  lines  of  least  resistance,  the  paths  of 
greatest  success.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  use  merely  of  his 
general  subnormal  abilities  would  never  have  led  to  as  much 
advancement  as  he  has  enjoyed.  His  special  capabilities  with 
language  have  brought  him  much  satisfaction  at  times,  even  if 
they  have  also  led  him  into  trouble.  An  astonishingly  long  list 
of  legal  proceedings  centers  about  this  case,  illustrating  very  well 
the  urgent  need  for  cooperation  between  courts. 

Adolf  von  X.,  now  just  21  years  old,  we,  through  most  un- 
usual circumstances,  have  had  more  or  less  under  observation 
for  a  number  of  years.  Correspondence  with  several  public 
and  social  agencies  has  given  us  close  acquaintance  with  his 
record  during  this"  time,  and  earlier.  Our  attention  was 
first  called  to  Adolf  in  New  York,  when  he  was  a  boy 
under  arrest  in  the  Tombs.  A  fine  young  lawyer,  a  casual 
acquaintance  of  Adolf's  through  court  work,  asked  us  to 
study  the  case  because  he  felt  that  perhaps  grave  injustice 
was  being  done.  Before  his  arrest  the  boy,  who  seemed 
to  be  most  ambitious,  had  been  about  the  court  rooms 
looking  into  the  details  of  cases  as  a  student  of  practical  law. 
He  had  attracted  attention  by  his  energy  and  push;  he 
earned  money  at  various  odd  jobs  and  studied  law  at  night. 
At  this  time  the  boy  was  under  arrest  charged  with  disorderly 
conduct ;  he  had  beaten  his  sister  in  their  home. 

We  found  a  nice  looking  and  well  spoken  young  fellow 
who  said  he  was  17.  Although  he  had  been  in  this  country 
only  three  years  from  Germany,  he  spoke  English  almost 
without  an  accent  and  did  quite  well  with  French  also.  He 
had  been  brought  up  in  Hamburg.  His  statement  added 
to  that  previously  given  by  the  lawyer  aroused  in  us  great 
interest  concerning  the  constructive  possibilities  of  the  case. 
It  seemed  as  if  here  was  an  immigrant  boy  for  whom  much 
should  be  done.  •* 


144  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

"I  was  taking  up  law  suits,  little  law  suits.  There  was 
a  case  on  before  Judge  O.  and  I  wanted  a  new  suit  of  clothes 
to  wear  to  go  to  court  in.  My  sister  said  I  could  not  take 
my  brother's  suit.  He  told  me  to  take  it  and  bring  it  home 
in  good  condition  at  night.  My  sister  is  supposed  to  be  the 
plaintiff,  but  she  did  not  make  the  complaint.  The  landlady 
came  in  and  hit  me  three  times  in  the  head  with  a  broom. 
My  sister  called  her  in  and  then  she  threw  a  piece  of  wood 
after  me.  Sister  started  crying,  but  she  did  not  get  hit. 
The  landlady  got  hit.  When  I  fell  down  I  striked  her  with 
my  head  and  hurt  my  head  bad.  I  think  I  hit  her  with 
the  left  side  of  my  head.  The  landlady  made  complaint  in 
German  to  an  Irish  policeman.  He  could  not  understand. 
The  officer  did  not  do  what  the  law  tells  because  he  took  a 
complaint  from  a  boy  of  the  age  of  6  years.  He  translated 
for  her. 

"The  trouble  started  because  I  wanted  to  get  my  brother's 
suit  because  I  wanted  to  appear  before  Judge  O.  to  protect 
a  party  in  the  hearing  of  a  case.  I  took  a  few  lessons  over 
in  the  Y.M.C.A.  class  and  in  a  law  office  I  read  books  through. 
I  have  books  at  home,  rulings  of  every  court.  I  know  I  got  a 
good  chance  to  work  up  because  I  know  I  have  a  good  head 
for  the  law.  My  father  he  wont  believe  it,  that's  the  trouble. 
I  know  I  could  stand  my  own  expenses.  I  said,  'Officer, 
wait  here  a  minute.  I'll  explain  how  this  is.'  He  began 
stepping  on  me.  He  threw  me  on  the  floor.  I  wanted  to 
go  out  the  back  way  so  nobody  would  see  me.  He  kicked  me 
down  the  front  way.  There  was  a  big  crowd  there.  An- 
other rough  officer  pinched  my  arm.  At  the  station  when 
the  officer  said  this  boy  hit  his  sister,  my  sister  said,  'No,  he 
did  not  hit  me,'  but  she  said  it  in  German. 

"  I  was  in  court  awhile  ago  because  father  thought  I  would 
not  work.  I  was  paroled.  I  was  trying  to  find  a  position. 
This  man  that  had  the  rehearing  said,  'You  wont  lose  any- 


PATHOLOGICAL  LYING  AND  SWINDLING  145 

thing.'  He  made  as  much  as  a  contract  with  me.  He  said 
to  another  person  in  my  hearing,  if  that  fellow  wins  my  case 
I  will  pay  him  $10  for  it.  The  first  case  I  had  was  in  X  court. 
I  was  interpreter  there.  I  want  to  make  something  out  of 
myself.  Labor  is  all  right,  but  I  like  office  work  or  law 
work  better.  I  tell  you,  doctor,  if  I  come  up  before  the  judge 
I  will  tell  him  just  the  same  story  I  tell  you.  I  can  remember 
it  just  that  way." 

This  young  man  told  us  he  had  graduated  from  interme- 
diate school  in  Hamburg;  in  this  country  he  had  attended 
for  about  a  year  and  a  half  and,  in  spite  of  the  language 
handicap,  he  was  in  sixth  grade.  There  is  a  brother  a  little 
older  and  an  older  sister.  Mother  has  been  dead  for  5  years. 
His  father  is  an  artisan  and  makes  a  fair  living. 

We  soon  found  means  of  getting  more  facts  concerning 
this  case.  The  first  point  of  importance  was  concerning 
his  age.  It  appeared  that  he  at  present  was  lying  about  this, 
probably  for  the  purpose  of  concealing  his  previous  record 
in  the  Juvenile  Court  and  in  other  connections.  There 
had  been  previously  much  trouble  with  him.  He  had  been 
long  complained  of  by  his  father  because  of  the  bickering 
and  quarreling  which  he  caused  in  the  household  and  on 
account  of  his  not  working  steadily.  He  had  shown  himself 
tremendously  able  in  getting  employment,  having  had  at 
least  twenty  places  in  the  last  year  and  a  half.  He  was 
known  to  lie  and  misrepresent;  on  one  occasion  when  he 
was  trying  to  get  certain  advantages  for  himself  he  falsely 
stated  that  he  was  employed  by  a  certain  legal  concern,  and 
once  he  tried  to  pass  himself  off  for  an  officer  of  a  court. 

The  father  willingly  came  to  see  us  and  proved  to  be  a 
somewhat  excitable,  but  intelligent  man  of  good  reputation. 
We  obtained  a  very  good  history  before  studying  the  boy 
himself.  Mr.  von  X.  began  by  informing  us  that  we  had 
a  pretty  difficult  case  on  our  hands,  and  when  we  spoke  of 


146  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

the  boy's  ambition  he  became  very  sarcastic.  He  stated 
that  up  to  the  time  when  the  boy  left  school  in  Hamburg  he 
had  only  been  able  to  get  to  the  equivalent  of  our  third 
grade.  To  be  sure,  it  is  true  that  Adolf  had  learned  English 
quickly  and  much  more  readily  than  any  one  else  in  the 
family,  and  in  the  old  country  had  picked  up  French,  but 
*'he  hasn't  got  sense  enough  to  be  a  lawyer." 

Both  the  older  children  did  very  well  in  school,  and  the 
father  and  mother  came  from  intelligent  families.  All  the 
children  are  somewhat  nervous,  but  the  two  older  ones  are 
altogether  different  from  this  boy.  They  are  quiet  and 
saving.  A  grandfather  was  said  to  have  been  a  learned  man 
and  another  member  of  the  family  very  well-to-do.  The 
mother  has  one  cousin  insane  and  the  father  one  cousin 
who  is  feebleminded.  All  the  other  family  history  from 
this  apparently  reliable  source  was  negative.  Both  the 
father  and  mother  were  still  young  at  the  birth  of  this  child. 
The  mother  died  of  pneumonia,  but  prior  to  this  sickness 
had  been  healthy. 

The  developmental  history  of  Adolf  runs  as  follows: 
His  birth  was  preceded  by  two  miscarriages.  The  pregnancy 
was  quite  normal ;  confinement  easy.  When  he  was  a  few 
days  old  he  had  some  inflammation  of  the  eyes  which  soon 
subsided.  Never  any  convulsions.  His  infancy  was  nor- 
mal. He  walked  and  talked  early.  At  three  years  he  had 
diphtheria  badly  with  delirium  for  a  couple  of  weeks  and 
paralysis  of  the  palate  for  some  months.  After  this  his 
parents  thought  the  boy  not  quite  normal.  He  had  slight 
fevers  occasionally.  At  9  years  he  was  very  ill  with  scarlet 
fever.  Following  that  he  had  some  trouble  with  the  bones 
in  his  legs.  Before  he  left  Hamburg  he  had  an  operation 
on  one  leg  for  this  trouble  which  had  persisted.  (It  was 
quite  significant  that  in  our  first  interview  Adolf  had  told 
us  his  leg  had  been  injured  by  a  rock  falling  on  it,  necessitat- 


PATHOLOGICAL  LYING  AND  SWINDLING   147 

ing  the  operation.)  Up  to  the  age  of  14  this  boy,  although 
apparently  in  good  physical  condition,  used  to  wet  the  bed 
always  at  night,  and  sometimes  during  the  day  lost  control 
of  his  bladder.  Also  lost  control  of  his  bowels  occasionally 
after  he  was  10  years  old.  He  sleeps  well,  is  moderate  in 
the  use  of  tea  and  coffee,  and  does  not  smoke. 

When  young  he  played  much  by  himself.  After  coming  to 
this  country  his  chief  recreation  was  going  to  nickel  shows. 
He  was  fond  of  music  as  a  child.  He  had  been  a  truant  in 
Hamburg.  As  a  young  child  he  was  regarded  as  destructive. 
The  general  statement  concerning  delinquency  is  that  Adolf 
is  the  only  one  of  the  family  who  has  given  trouble  and 
that  the  father  was  the  first  to  complain  of  the  boy  to  the 
authorities.  Before  he  reported  it  there  had  long  been 
trouble  on  account  of  frequent  changing  of  employment 
and  misrepresentations.  The  boy  had  forged  letters  to  his 
family  and  others.  In  the  office  of  a  certain  newspaper 
he  once  represented  himself  to  be  an  orphan,  and  there  a 
fund  was  raised  for  him  and  he  was  outfitted.  The  father 
insists  that  the  boy,  in  general,  is  an  excessive  liar. 

Further  inquiry  brought  out  that  other  people,  too,  re- 
garded Adolf  as  an  extreme  falsifier.  The  principal  of  a 
school  thought  the  boy  made  such  queer  statements  that  he 
could  not  be  right  in  his  head.  In  the  office  of  a  clerk  of  a 
court  he  represented  himself  to  be  employed  by  a  certain 
legal  institution  and  demanded  file  after  file  for  reference. 
Everybody  there  was  friendly  to  him  at  first,  but  later  they 
all  changed  their  attitude  on  account  of  his  unscrupulous 
and  constant  lying. 

Physically  we  found  a  very  well  nourished  boy,  rather 
short  for  his  age.  Weight  121  Ibs. ;  height  5  ft.  1  in.  Muscula- 
ture decidedly  flabby ;  this  was  especially  noticeable  in  his 
handshake.  Attitude  heavy  and  slouchy  for  a  boy.  Ex- 
pression quite  pleasant;  features  regular;  complexion 


148  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

decidedly  good.  A  North  European  type.  Eyes  differ 
slightly  in  the  color  of  the  irides.  Noticeable  enlargement 
of  breasts.  Well  shaped  head  of  quite  normal  measure- 
ments; circumference  54.5,  length  18,  breadth  15  cm.  No 
sensory  defect,  nor  was  anything  else  of  particular  interest 
found  upon  examination. 

The  mental  study,  particularly  the  testing  for  special 
abilities,  has  been  of  very  great  interest.  Fortunately  for 
the  scientific  understandings  of  the  problems  involved  we 
have  been  able  to  see  Adolf  many  times  at  intervals  and  to 
check  up  previous  findings.  Our  first  statement  will  be  of 
the  results  obtained  at  the  earliest  study  of  the  case. 

When  we  first  saw  Adolf,  although  he  talked  so  intelli- 
gently, we  asked  him  to  give  us  some  evidence  of  his  educa- 
tional ability,  and  to  our  tremendous  surprise  he  failed  to  be 
able  to  multiply  simple  numbers  or  even  to  do  addition 
correctly.  There  was  no  evidence  of  emotional  upset,  but 
we  waited  for  further  testing  until  we  had  seen  the  father, 
that  we  might  be  sure  of  the  school  history.  As  mentioned 
above,  we  found  that  the  boy  had  entirely  misled  us. 

We  then  entered  upon  a  systematic  study  of  the  boy's 
abilities  and  found  some  strange  contrasts.  Perceptions 
of  form  and  color  were  normal.  Given  a  very  simple  tost 
which  required  some  apperceptive  ability,  he  did  fairly  well. 
Given  simple  "Construction  Tests"  which  required  the  plan- 
ful  handling  of  concrete  material,  Adolf  proceeded  unin- 
telligently.  He  showed  no  foresight,  was  rather  slow,  but 
by  following  out  a  trial  and  error  procedure  and  with  some 
repetition  of  irrational  placing  of  the  pieces  he  finally  suc- 
ceeded. Moderate  ability  to  profit  by  trial  and  error  was 
shown,  but  for  his  age  the  performance  on  this  type  of  test 
was  poor.  On  our  "Puzzle-Box,"  which  calls  for  the  analy- 
sis of  a  concrete  situation,  a  test  that  is  done  by  boys  of  his 
age  nearly  always  in  four  minutes  or  less,  Adolf  failed  in 


PATHOLOGICAL  LYING  AND  SWINDLING   149 

ten  minutes.  He  began  in  his  typically  aggressive  fashion, 
but  kept  trying  to  solve  the  difficulty  by  the  repetition  of 
obviously  futile  movements.  On  a  "Learning  Test,"  where 
numerals  are  associated  in  meaningless  relation  with  sym- 
bols, Adolf  did  the  work  promptly  and  with  much  self-con- 
fidence, but  made  a  thoroughly  irrational  error,  inasmuch 
as  he  associated  the  same  numeral  with  two  different  sym- 
bols —  and  did  not  see  his  error.  His  ability  to  mentally 
represent  and  analyze  a  simple  situation  visually  presented 
in  our  "Cross  Line  Tests"  was  very  poor.  In  this  he  failed 
to  analyze  out  the  simple  parts  of  a  figure  which  he  could 
well  draw  from  memory.  This  seemed  significant,  for  the 
test  is  practically  always  done  correctly  by  normal  individ- 
uals, at  least  on  the  second  trial,  by  the  time  they  are  10 
or  12  years  of  age.  A  simple  test  for  visual  memory  of  form 
also  brought  poor  results. 

As  an  extreme  contrast  to  the  above  results,  the  tests 
that  had  to  do  with  language  were  remarkably  well  done. 
A  visual  verbal  memory  passage  was  given  with  unusual 
accuracy,  also  an  auditory  verbal  passage  was  rendered  al- 
most perfectly.  Considering  that  the  former  has  20  items 
and  the  latter  12  details,  this  performance  was  exception- 
ally good.  Also,  the  so-called  Antonym  Test,  where  one  is 
asked  to  give  as  quickly  as  possible  the  opposite  to  a  word, 
the  result,  considering  his  foreign  education,  was  decidedly 
good.  Three  out  of  twenty  opposites  were  not  given,  appar- 
ently on  account  of  the  lack  of  knowledge.  The  average 
time  was  2.3  seconds.  If  two  of  the  other  time-reactions 
were  left  out,  which  were  probably  slow  from  lack  of  knowl- 
edge, the  average  time  would  be  1.6  seconds  for  15  oppo- 
sites. This  shows  evidence  of  some  good  mental  control 
on  the  language  side.  Motor  control  was  fair.  He  was 
able  to  tap  75  of  our  squares  with  2  errors  in  30  seconds,  just 
a  medium  performance.  A  letter  written  on  this  date  con- 


150  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

tains  quite  a  few  mis-spelled  short  words:  "My  father 
Send  me  to  This  Court  for  The  troubels  I  had  with  my 
sister,"  etc. 

While  awaiting  trial  Adolf,  stating  that  he  was  desirous 
of  doing  so,  was  given  ample  opportunity  to  study  arithme- 
tic. After  a  few  days  he  told  us  unhesitatingly  that  he  now 
could  do  long  division,  but  he  utterly  failed,  and,  indeed, 
made  many  errors  in  a  sum  in  addition.  He  had  acquired 
part  of  the  multiplication  table. 

Study  of  his  range  of  information  brought  out  some  curious 
points.  He  told  of  some  comparative  merits  of  law  schools, 
had  some  books  on  home-taught  law,  and  was  a  great  reader 
of  the  newspapers.  In  the  latter  he  chiefly  perused  reports 
of  court  cases.  He  was  quite  familiar  with  the  names  of 
various  attorneys  and  judges.  He  could  give  the  names  in 
contemporary  politics,  and  knew  about  sporting  items.  His 
knowledge  of  the  history  of  this  country  was  absolutely 
deficient,  but  he  does  not  hesitate  to  give  such  statements 
as  the  following:  "The  Fourth  of  July  is  to  remember  a 
great  battle  between  President  Lincoln  and  the  English 
country."  Again  he  makes  a  bluff  to  give  scientific  items, 
although  he  has  the  shallowest  information.  When  it 
comes  to  athletics,  much  to  our  surprise,  we  hear  that  our 
flabby  boy  is  a  champion.  Of  course,  he  knows  some  of 
the  rulers  in  Europe  and  by  what  route  he  came  to  New 
York,  but  he  informs  us  that  Paris  is  the  largest  country  in 
Europe. 

Adolf  says  he  plays  a  very  good  game  of  checkers,  that  he 
had  played  much,  but  on  trial  he  shows  a  very  poor  game, 
once  moving  backwards.  When  purposely  given  chances 
to  take  men  he  did  not  perceive  the  opportunities. 

We  asked  him  to  analyze  out  for  us  a  couple  of  moral 
situations,  one  being  about  a  man  who  stole  to  give  to  a 
starving  family.  He  tells  us  in  one  way  the  man  did  right 


PATHOLOGICAL  LYING  AND  SWINDLING   151 

and  in  another  way  wrong.  It  never  is  right  to  steal,  be- 
cause if  caught  he  would  be  sent  to  the  penitentiary  and 
would  have  to  pay  more  than  the  things  are  worth,  and, 
then,  if  he  was  not  caught,  a  thief  would  never  get  along  in 
the  world.  The  other  was  the  story  of  Indians  surrounding 
a  settlement  who  asked  the  captain  of  a  village  to  give  up  a 
man.  Adolf  thought  if  he  were  a  chief  he  would  say  to  give 
battle  if  the  man  had  done  no  wrong,  but  on  further  consid- 
eration states  that  he  would  rather  give  up  one  man  than 
risk  the  lives  of  many,  and  if  he  were  a  captain  he  would 
surely  rather  give  this  man  up  than  put  his  own  life  in  it. 
He  thinks  certainly  this  is  the  way  the  question  should  be 
answered. 

On  our  "Aussage"  or  Testimony  Test  Adolf  gave  volubly 
many  details,  dramatically  expressing  himself  and  putting 
in  interpretations  that  were  not  warranted  by  the  picture. 
Indeed,  he  made  the  characters  actually  say  things.  On 
the  other  hand,  he  did  not  recall  at  all  one  of  the  three 
persons  present  in  the  picture.  He  accepted  three  out  of 
six  suggestions  and  was  quite  willing  to  fill  in  imaginary 
details,  besides  perverting  some  of  the  facts.  This  was 
unusually  unreliable  testimony. 

Our  impressions  as  dictated  at  this  time  state  that  we  had 
to  do  with  a  young  man  in  good  general  physical  condition, 
of  unusually  flabby  musculature,  who  showed  a  couple  of 
signs  that  might  possibly  be  regarded  as  stigmata  of  inferior- 
ity. Mentally,  the  main  showing  was  irregularity  of  abili- 
ties ;  in  some  things  he  was  distinctly  subnormal,  in  others 
mediocre,  but  in  language  ability  he  was  surprisingly  good. 
No  evidence  of  mental  aberration  was  discovered.  The 
diagnosis  could  be  made,  in  short,  that  the  boy  was  a  sub- 
normal verbalist.  His  character  traits  might  be  enumerated 
in  part  by  saying  that  he  was  aggressive,  unscrupulous, 
boastful,  ambitious,  and  a  continual  and  excessive  liar.  In 


152  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

the  exercise  of  these  he  was  strikingly  lacking  in  foresight. 
This  latter  characteristic  also  was  shown  in  his  test  work. 
The  abilities  in  which  he  was  overbalanced  gave  him  spivial 
feelings  of  the  possibility  of  his  being  a  success  and  led  him  to 
become  a  pathological  liar.  From  the  family  history  the 
main  suggestion  of  the  causation  of  the  mental  abnormality 
is  in  illness  during  developmental  life,  but  neither  ante-natal 
nor  hereditary  conditions  are  quite  free  from  suspicion. 

At  the  time  of  this  first  trial  Adolf  maintained  a  very  smart 
attitude  and  tried  to  show  off.  He  had  succeeded  in  having 
two  witnesses  subpoenaed  in  order  to  prove  that  he  did  not 
hit  his  sister,  but  on  the  stand  it  came  out  that  one  of  them 
was  not  there  at  all,  and  the  other,  who  was  a  little  #irl, 
stated  that  she  saw  Adolf  hit  some  one.  Just  why  the  boy 
had  these  witnesses  brought  in  was  difficult  to  explain. 
Perhaps  he  had  the  idea  that  some  one  ought  to  be  called 
in  every  case,  or  perhaps  he  thought  they  would  be  willing 
to  tell  an  untruth  for  him.  His  statement  in  court  did  not 
agree  with  what  he  had  told  us  and  was  utterly  different 
from  what  his  sister  stated.  It  came  out  that  he  had  struck 
her  on  a  number  of  previous  occasions.  It  was  shown 
clearly  that  the  boy  was  a  tremendous  liar.  The  case  was 
transferred  to  the  Juvenile  Court  and  from  there  the  boy 
was  sent  away  to  an  institution  for  a  few  months.  After 
the  trial  his  father  said  in  broken  English,  "To  me  he  never 
told  the  truth." 

Just  after  his  release  the  family  moved  to  Chicago  and  Adolf 
soon  put  himself  in  touch  with  certain  social  agencies.  He 
found  out  where  I  was  and  came  to  see  me,  bright,  smiling, 
and  well.  He  had  gained  eight  pounds  during  his  incarcera- 
tion. He  wanted  to  tell  all  about  his  life  in  the  institution 
and  because  we  were  busy  said  he  would  come  the  next  day. 
He  did  not  do  this,  but  a  few  months  later  came  running  up 


PATHOLOGICAL  LYING  AND  SWINDLING   153 

to  me  on  the  street  with  a  package  in  his  hands,  saying  he 
was  already  at  work  in  a  downtown  office  and  was  doing 
well  and  going  to  night  school.  Five  years  more  would  see 
him  quite  through  his  law  course.  A  few  months  after  this 
he  applied  at  a  certain  agency  for  work  as  an  interpreter  and 
there,  strangely  enough,  some  one  who  knew  him  in  New 
York  recognized  him.  He,  however,  denied  ever  having 
been  in  court  and  produced  a  list  of  twenty  or  twenty-five 
places  where  he  worked  and  gave  them  as  references.  It  is 
to  be  remembered  that  at  this  time  he  had  already  been 
brought  up  in  court  at  least  three  times,  that  he  had  been 
on  probation,  and  been  sent  away  to  an  institution. 

During  the  last  four  years  we  have  received  much  informa- 
tion concerning  the  career  of  Adolf,  although  his  activities 
have  carried  him  to  Milwaukee,  Cleveland,  St.  Louis,  and 
other  towns,  in  several  of  which  he  has  been  in  trouble.  He 
has  very  repeatedly  been  to  see  us  and  we  have  had  many 
opportunities  of  gauging  his  mental  as  well  as  his  social 
development. 

His  family  continued  to  live  in  one  of  the  most  populous 
suburbs  of  Chicago  and  Adolf  maintains  that  his  residence 
is  there,  an  important  point  for  his  political  activities  which 
are  mentioned  later. 

What  we  discovered  in  our  further  studies  of  Adolf's  mental 
condition  can  be  told  in  short.  We  have  retested  him  over 
and  over.  (When  he  has  been  hard  up  we  have  given  him 
money  to  induce  him  to  do  his  very  best.)  There  are  no 
contradictions  in  our  findings  at  different  times.  Once, 
in  another  city,  in  connection  with  his  appearance  in  court, 
Adolf  was  seen  by  a  psychiatrist  who  suggested  that  he  was  a 
case  of  dementia  precox,  but  nothing  in  our  long  observation 
>f  him  warrants  us  in  such  an  opinion.  His  mental  conditions 
ind  qualities  seem  quite  unchanged  in  type  during  all  the 
time  we  have  known  him,  and  instead  of  any  deterioration 


154  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

there  has  been  gradual  betterment  in  capacities,  certainly 
along  the  line  of  adjustment  to  environment.  His  wonder- 
ful ability  to  get  out  of  trouble  is  evidence  of  these  powers  of 
adjustment,  as  is  also,  perhaps,  his  keen  sensing  of  the 
utility  of  the  shadier  sides  of  politics  and  criminal  procedure. 

In  work  with  numbers  Adolf  is  still  very  poor.  He  is 
unable  to  do  long  division  or  multiplication,  and  cannot 
add  together  simple  fractions.  Addition  he  does  much 
better,  but  even  at  his  best  he  makes  errors  in  columns 
where  he  has  to  add  five  numerals.  He  now  can  do  simple 
subtraction  such  as  is  required  in  making  change,  but  fails 
on  such  a  problem  as  how  much  change  he  should  get  from 
$20  after  buying  goods  costing  $11.37.  His  memory  span  is 
only  six  numerals,  and  these  he  cannot  get  correctly  every  time. 

After  numerous  attempts  to  mentally  analyze  our  simple 
"Cross  Line  Test,'*  with  much  urging  and  extreme  slowness 
he  finally  succeeded  at  one  time  in  getting  it  correctly.  As 
stated  above,  this  is  a  test  that  is  done  with  ease  usually  by 
normal  individuals  12  years  of  age.  On  our  "Code  Test," 
requiring  much  the  same  order  of  ability,  but  more  effort, 
he  entirely  failed.  For  one  thing,  he  has  never  known  the 
order  of  the  alphabet  either  in  English,  German,  or  French. 
Our  "Pictorial  Completion  Test,'*  which  gauges  simple 
apperceptive  abilities,  he  failed  to  do  correctly,  making  three 
illogical  errors. 

The  result  on  the  Binet  tests  are  most  interesting.  From 
years  of  experience  with  them  we  ourselves  have  no  faith 
in  their  offering  sound  criteria  for  age  levels  above  10  y 
Adolf  goes  up  through  all  of  the  12-year  tests  (1911  series) 
except  the  first,  where  he  shows  suggestibility  in  his  judgment 
of  the  lengths  of  lines.  In  the  15-year  tests  he  fails  on  the 
first,  but  does  the  three  following  ones  correctly.  Two  out 
of  the  adult  series  are  done  well  —  those  where  the  defini- 
tion of  a  word  is  required  and  the  statement  of  political 


PATHOLOGICAL  LYING  AND  SWINDLING   155 

ideas.  Two  or  three  of  his  specific  answers  are  worth 
noting  :  "Honor  is  when  a  person  is  very  honest.  It  means 
he  will  never  do  what  is  wrong  even  if  he  can  make  money 
by  it."  "Pleasure  is  when  everything  is  pleasant,  when  you 
are  enjoying  yourself."  Adolf  tells  us  that  the  king  is  head 
of  a  monarchy,  he  has  not  the  power  to  veto,  and  he  acquires 
his  position  by  royal  birth.  In  contrast  to  this  he  says  the 
president  is  the  presiding  executive  of  a  republic,  he  has 
the  power  to  veto,  and  he  gains  his  position  by  election. 
It  is  perfectly  clear  in  this  case,  as  in  many  others,  that  the 
Binet  tests  show  very  little  wherein  lies  the  nature  of  a  special 
defect  or  ability.  Adolf's  capacity  for  handling  language 
has  grown  steadily.  He  has  been  reading  law  and  knows 
by  heart  a  great  deal  of  its  terminology.  In  a  short  conver- 
sation he  talks  well  and  is  coherent.  The  aggressiveness 
which  is  ever  with  him  leads  him  to  stick  to  the  point.  He 
has  had  very  little  instruction,  his  pronunciation  is  often 
defective  and  he  does  not  know  the  meaning  of  many  of  the 
longer  terms  with  which  any  lawyer  should  be  acquainted. 
He  speaks  fluently  and  has  now  long  posed,  among  other 
things,  as  an  interpreter. 

Our  final  diagnosis  after  all  these  mental  tests  is,  that  while 
he  could  by  no  means  be  called  a  feebleminded  person, 
still  Adolf  is  essentially  subnormal  in  many  abilities  —  we 
still  regard  him  as  a  subnormal  verbalist.  Probably  what 
he  lacks  in  powers  of  mental  analysis  has  much  relation  to 
the  lack  of  foresight  which  he  continually  shows  in  his 
social  career.  His  lying  and  swindling  have  led  him  almost 
nowhere  except  into  difficulties. 

Adolf  has  been  steadily  gaining  weight,  although  he  has 
grown  only  an  inch  and  a  half  in  these  years.  ,  He  is  stout 
and  sleek-looking  and  as  flabby  as  ever.  He  has  not  been 
seriously  ill  during  this  time.  Whereas  before  he  used  to 
be  untidy  in  dress  he  now  gets  himself  up  more  carefully. 


156  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

The  following  are  examples  of  Adolf's  conversation  and 
show  many  of  his  characteristics :  (Soon  after  he  came  to 
Chicago  we  spoke  to  him  of  his  progress.) 

"The  other  day  I  met  a  fellow  and  he  says,  'How  long 
have  you  been  in  this  country  ? '  and  when  I  says  four  years 
he  says,  'You're  a  liar.  There  never  was  a  fellow  I  ever 
heard  of  who  got  hold  of  the  language  and  was  doing  as  well 
as  you  are  in  four  years.'"  A  few  months  later  he  tells  us 
he  is  selling  goods  on  commission  and  descants  on  how  much 
he  can  make:  "That's  ' Get-rich-quick- Wallingford '  for 
you.  There's  Mr.  A.  and  Congressman  X.,  they  started 
out  from  little  beginnings  just  the  same  as  me.  I'm  going 
along  their  line. 

"Do  you  know  I  got  sued  by  the  Evening  Star  for  libbel. 
That's  what  I  got  for  testifying  in  that  case.  I  tell  you  what 
I  would  like  and  that's  vice  investigation  work." 

At  another  time :  "  Well,  doctor,  I  am  general  manager 
for  my  brother's  business  now.  He's  got  a  bottle  business. 
There's  money  in  that,  ain't  there?  I  was  down  in  court 
to-day.  I  tell  you,  there  was  a  fellow  who  got  what  was 
coming  to  him.  It  was  a  case  before  Judge  H.  —  assault 
and  battery.  He  was  fined  $10  and  costs  —  all  amounted 
to  about  $30.  Well,  I  had  a  little  dog  and  I  tell  you  I  have 
a  heart  for  animals  just  the  same  as  persons.  He  kicked 
the  dog  and  I  told  him  not  to  do  it  and  he  says,  'You're  a 
liar,'  and  then  he  ran  down  stairs  and  pushed  me  along  the 
stones  over  there.  I  called  the  police  and  they  did  not  come 
for  about  three  quarters  of  an  hour. 

"I'm  studying  law.  Taking  a  correspondence  course. 
They  give  you  an  L.L.B.  It's  a  two  years  work  and  you  get 
all  the  volumes  separately,"  etc.  "Then  we  have  a  slander 
suit.  A  neighbor  called  my  sister  dirty  names.  I  am  going 
to  file  a  $5000  slander  suit.  I  would  not  let  that  man  call 
names  like  that,  and  then  he's  got  about  $5000  in  property. 


PATHOLOGICAL  LYING  AND  SWINDLING   157 

"  Some  people  are  down  on  me,  but  I  tell  you  I  have  been 
a  leader  of  boys.  We  got  the  Illinois  championship  —  you 
know,  the  boy  scout  examinations.  There  was  an  examina- 
tion on  leaves.  I  was  their  leader.  I  had  9  boys  up  and 
there  were  117  leaves  and  every  boy  knew  every  leaf.  Of 
course  I  told  them  or  they  would  not  have  known.  Some 
people  are  down  on  me  for  what  I  do  for  the  boys,  but  I  tell 
you  I've  been  in  court  and  I've  made  up  my  mind  I  will 
help  other  kids.  Sometimes  kids  can  be  helped  by  talking 
to.  Then  there  is  me.  I  won  the  boxing  championship 
this  year."  (At  this  period  I  enquire  about  his  prowess  and 
the  recent  encounter  with  the  young  boy  who  dragged  him 
over  the  stones.  With  a  blush  he  says  he  never  was  any 
good  at  real  boxing  or  real  fighting.)  "I'm  this  kind  of  a 
fellow.  If  they  let  me  alone  I'm  all  right,  but  if  they  start 
monkeying  with  me  something  is  going  to  happen.  When 
you  start  a  thing  don't  start  it  until  you  can  carry  it  through. 
These  people  that  started  with  me  were  not  able  to  do  that." 

Later  it  came  out  that  the  alleged  fighting  with  the  boy 
is  all  in  Adolf's  mind.  He  tells  us,  without  noticing  any 
discrepancy,  that  no  complaint  against  this  boy,  who  he 
said  had  been  already  tried  and  fined,  would  be  received 
by  the  police  authorities,  nor  will  they  issue  a  warrant. 

Within  the  last  year  or  two  there  has  been  almost  complete 
cessation  of  Adolf's  attempt  to  become  a  lawyer.  At  an 
earlier  time  he  came  to  us  with  a  speech  written  out  in 
a  book.  He  was  going  to  recite  it  when  a  certain  case 
came  up  in  the  Municipal  Court.  As  a  matter  of  fact  we 
heard  that  the  boy  said  nothing  on  the  occasion.  At  various 
times  we  have  heard  of  his  getting  mixed  up  in  different 
Ways  in  a  number  of  cases.  Once  he  succeeded  in  giving 
testimony  in  a  notorious  trial.  His  own  account  of  his 
interest  in  the  case  is  shown  in  the  following  : 

"Doctor,  you  remember  that  X.  boy  and  that  Y.  boy. 


158  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

Judge  B.  is  going  to  try  them.  They  are  down  in  the  S  Sta- 
tion and  they  are  going  to  stay  there  unless  they  sign  a 
jury  waiver  and  they  can't  do  that.  They  are  only  15 
years  old  —  I  got  their  ages  —  it  cost  me  $1  to  get  their 
ages  and  I  am  going  to  be  there  when  they  are  being  tried." 
(The  statement  of  the  ages  is  untrue.)  "It  ain't  right  to 
keep  these  boys  down  there.  They  look  pale.  They  don't 
give  them  anything  but  black  coffee.  I'm  going  to  represent 
them  boys.  You  know,  doctor,  I'm  working  in  three  places 
now  —  holding  three  jobs.  Two  days  in  the  week  I  work 
for  the  A's,  two  for  Mr.  B.  —  he  ain't  exactly  my  boss  —  and 
then  for  myself.  The  A's  pay  me  $6,  Mr.  B.  pays  $3,  and 
then  I  make  $7  or  $8  myself  interpreting.  I'm  saving  it 
up  to  go  to  law  school.  In  three  years  I  graduate.  They 
are  going  to  hold  it  up  against  them  boys,  their  records,  and 
I  am  going  to  deny  it.  It  ain't  right.  I  was  talking  to 
the  detective  that  arrested  X.  and  I  says  to  him,  'Look  IHTO, 
you  took  the  knife.  What  right  have  they  got  to  take  in 
one  fellow  without  the  little  fellow?'  I  want  to  represent 
this  case  myself." 

Adolf  has  worked  for  law  firms  and  aided  at  times  as  an 
investigator  of  criminal  and  vice  situations.  Occasionally 
he  has  been  much  worried  about  his  own  court  record.  He 
did  not  want  it  to  stand  against  him.  He  thought  he 
could  get  his  sister  to  swear  that  he  never  quarreled  at  home. 
Shortly  afterwards  he  served  a  short  sentence  for  stealing 
from  a  law  firm.  Later  he  came  in  and  said  he  had  a  job 
in  the  legal  department  of  a  large  concern  and  that  he 
had  changed  his  name  because  he  believed  his  old  name  was 
ruined.  "I'm  determined  to  be  a  lawyer.  Ever  since  a 
little  fellow  I  have  wanted  to  be  —  ever  since  I  have  had  an 
understanding  of  what  the  law  means.  I  used  to  play  court 
with  the  other  little  ones  and  talk  about  law."  At  this 
time  he  wanted  a  little  loan.  He  had  become  particularly 


PATHOLOGICAL  LYING  AND  SWINDLING   159 

interested  in  philanthropic  work  and  thought  he  could  do 
something  on  the  side  about  that  —  perhaps  become  a  leader 
of  boys,  or  help  the  unprotected  in  some  way.  Adolf  was 
really  employed  now  to  investigate  cases  by  some  lawyer. 
About  this  time  he  had  been  wearing  a  badge,  impersonating 
an  officer  of  a  certain  philanthropic  society. 

For  long  this  young  man  was  concocting  all  sorts  of  schemes 
how  he  might  work  in  at  the  edge  of  legal  affairs,  as  an  inter- 
preter, a  "next  friend,"  an  investigator,  etc.  More  recent 
activities  have  taken  Adolf  away  from  the  field  of  his  first 
ambitions  and  he  has  tried  to  use  his  talents  in  all  sorts  of 
adventuresome  ways.  The  accounts  of  his  lying  and  impos- 
tures belong  logically  together,  as  follows. 

During  all  our  acquaintance  with  Adolf  we  have  known 
his  word  to  be  absolutely  untrustworthy.  Many  times  he 
has  descended  upon  his  friends  with  quite  unnecessary  stories, 
leading  to  nothing  but  a  lowering  of  their  opinion  of  him. 
Repeatedly  his  concoctions  have  been  without  ascertainable 
purpose.  His  prevaricating  nearly  always  centers  about 
himself  as  some  sort  of  a  hero  and  represents  him  to  be  a 
particularly  good-hearted  and  even  definitely  philanthropic 
person  —  one  who  loves  all  creatures  and  does  much  for 
others.  Pages  might  be  taken  in  recounting  his  falsehoods. 
Most  of  them,  even  when  long  drawn  out,  were  fairly  coher- 
ent. I  remember  one  instance  as  showing  how  particularly 
uncalled  for  his  prevarications  were.  After  hearing  one 
of  his  tales,  we  started  downtown  together,  but  missed  a 
car.  Adolf  walked  to  the  middle  of  the  street  and  said  he 
could  see  one  coming  just  a  few  blocks  away.  Being  doubt- 
ful, I  a  minute  later  went  to  look  and  no  car  even  yet  was  in 
sight.  Adolf  sheepishly  stared  in  a  shop  window.  He  never 
took  any  pleasure  in  his  record  of  misdeeds.  He  was  never 
boastful  about  them  and  indeed  seemed  to  have  quite  normal 
moral  feeling.  But  so  far,  none  of  his  perceptions  or  apper- 


1GO  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

ceptions  has  led  him  to  see  the  astonishing  futility  of  his 
own  lying  and  other  misrepresentations. 

Already  this  young  man's  court  experiences  we  know 
to  be  very  numerous  and  possibly  we  are  not  acquainted 
with  all  of  them.  Early  we  knew  of  his  forging  letters 
and  telegrams  and  engaging  in  minor  misrepresenta- 
tions which  were  really  swindling  operations.  Later  his 
transactions  have  been  spread  about  in  different  cities,  as 
we  have  already  stated.  The  young  man  borrowed  small 
sums  frequently  on  false  pretenses.  He  has  found  the  out- 
skirts of  legal  practice  a  fruitful  field  for  misrepresentations 
galore.  For  instance,  at  one  time  he  stood  outside  the 
door  of  a  concern  which  deals  with  small  legal  business  and 
represented  to  the  prospective  patrons  that  he  as  a  student 
of  the  law  could  transact  their  business  with  more  individual 
care  and  for  a  less  sum.  He  really  succeeded  in  getting 
hold  of  the  beginnings  of  a  number  of  legal  actions  in  this 
way.  In  one  city  he  posed  as  the  officer  of  a  certain  protec- 
tive agency  and  posted  himself  where  he  would  be  likely  to 
meet  people  who  knew  of  this  organization,  in  order  to  ob- 
tain petty  business  from  them.  We  have  heard  that  he  has 
been  a  witness  in  a  number  of  legal  cases  and  has  earned 
fees  thereby.  In  Cleveland  Adolf  succeeded  in  starting  a 
secret  service  agency  and  obtained  contracts,  among  them 
the  detective  work  for  a  newly  started  store  of  considerable 
size.  This  was  a  great  tribute  to  his  push  and  energy,  but 
his  agency  soon  failed.  In  St.  Louis,  where  he  stayed  long 
enough  to  become  acquainted  with  not  a  few  members  of 
the  legal  fraternity,  he  forged  a  legal  document.  A  great 
deal  was  made  of  the  case  by  the  papers  because  of  its 
flagrancy  and  amusing  details.  It  seems  Adolf  had  become 
enamored  of  a  certain  woman  who  was  not  living  with  her 
husband.  The  account  runs  that  he  urged  his  suit,  but  she 
refused  because  she  was  not  legally  free.  Adolf  replied 


PATHOLOGICAL  LYING  AND  SWINDLING  161 

that  he  would  make  that  all  right  and  in  a  week  or  two 
produced  papers  of  divorce.  These  were  made  out  in  legal 
form,  but  it  seems  that  he  over-stepped  the  mark.  The 
alleged  decree  stated  that  the  fair  divorcee  must  be  remarried 
inside  of  a  week.  This  seems  to  have  aroused  her  suspicion, 
as  had  also  some  violence  which  Adolf  had  prematurely  dis- 
played. The  young  man  was  duly  sentenced  for  the  fraud. 

Concerning  punishments  we  can  say  that  in  the  five  years 
since  he  left  New  York  he  has  served  at  least  four  terms  in 
penal  institutions  and  has  been  held  to  trial  on  one  other 
occasion.  This  latter  event  concerned  itself  with  Adolf's 
impersonating  a  federal  officer.  He  made  his  way  into  a 
home  under  these  conditions,  just  why  we  do  not  know.  The 
case  was  difficult  to  adjust  and  was  dismissed  because  no 
statute  exactly  covered  it. 

Perhaps  nothing  in  his  remarkable  history  shows  Adolf's 
aggressiveness  and  peculiar  tendencies  any  more  than  his 
political  career.  He  had  been  voting  long  before  he  was  of 
age  and  had  even  succeeded  in  getting  a  nomination  for  a 
certain  party  position  during  his  minority,  polling  a  con- 
siderable vote  at  the  primaries.  Following  his  defeat  at 
election,  which  was  at  the  time  when  the  new  party  showed 
marked  weakness,  Adolf  told  us  that  he,  after  all,  was  only 
in  the  Progressive  Party  to  wreck  it.  He  felt  that  the 
leaders  belonged  back  in  the  Republican  ranks,  and  he 
thought  he  could  help  to  get  them  there. 


Mentality:  Subnormal  verbalist  type.  Case  12. 

Man,  21  years. 
Developmental:  Early  illness  with 

involvement  of  nervous 

system. 
Delinquencies : 

Lying  excessive.     Swindling.     Stealing. 


CHAPTER  IV 

CASES  OF  PATHOLOGICAL  ACCUSATION 

WE  include  in  this  chapter  pathological  self-accusa- 
tion as  well  as  incriraination  of  others.  In  court  work 
one  sees  many  cases  of  false  accusation,  but  few  belong 
to  the  pathological  variety.  We  have  not  considered 
those  based  upon  vindictiveness,  or  self-defense,  or 
where  any  other  even  slight,  recognizable,  normal 
gratification  was  at  the  bottom.  We  have  tried  to  hold 
strictly  to  our  definition.  Selection  of  the  cases  for 
this  chapter  has  been  easier  than  discriminating  those 
who  are  merely  pathological  liars  in  general.  It  is 
simpler  to  distinguish  those  who  accuse  others  for  the 
purpose  of  injury  or  self -protection,  or  those  who  make 
self-accusation  under  the  influence  of  delusional  condi- 
tions, than  it  is  to  decide  upon  similar  distinctions  in 
cases  of  mere  pathological  lying.  Several  authors,  such 
as  Gross,  have  noted  false  accusations  made  during  a 
short  period  of  early  adolescence,  or  in  connection 
with  menstrual  disturbance.  Our  cases  corroborate 
these  facts,  but  show  also  that  extreme  false  accusations 
may  be  made  by  girls  before  puberty.  Satisfactory 
knowledge  of  such  cases  is  not  gained  by  learning 
merely  that  the  accuser  is  under  temporary  physical 
stress  —  it  is  to  be  noted  that  our  material  clearly 
shows  that  there  is  always  more  in  the  background. 

162 


CASES  OF  PATHOLOGICAL  ACCUSATION    163 

The  many  cases  observed  by  us  of  false  accusations 
made,  rarely,  by  the  feebleminded  and,  more  often,  by 
those  suffering  from  a  psychosis,  need  not  be  mentioned 
here  —  they  are  obvious  in  their  abnormality  and  have 
little  bearing  upon  our  immediate  problem. 

For  the  sake  of  illustration  of  the  fact  of  pathological 
accusation  Case  17  is  given  in  this  chapter,  but  in  its 
mental  aspects  it  belongs  more  properly  under  the  head 
of  border-line  cases.  In  our  final  deductions  this  has 
not  been  counted  as  a  mentally  normal  case. 

CASE  13 

Summary:  An  exceedingly  important  case  from  a  legal  stand- 
point. A  girl  of  15  years  persistently,  but  falsely  accused  her 
own  mother  and  her  step-father  of  the  murder  of  the  youngest 
child  of  the  family.  Some  apparent  physical  corroboration  was 
found.  The  woman  and  her  spouse  were  held  from  the  inquest 
to  the  grand  jury  and  later  were  indicted.  They  were  in  jail 
for  four  months  until  the  case  was  finally  tried,  when  they  were 
discharged. 

We  studied  Libby  S.  as  a  delinquent  some  eight  months 
after  her  mother  and  step-father  had  been  acquitted  of 
murder.  These  unfortunate  people  had  been  held  and  tried 
almost  entirely  upon  the  testimony  given  by  this  girl.  It 
goes  without  saying  that  they  were  very  poor  and  not  ordi- 
narily self-assertive,  and  so  did  not  obtain  competent  legal 
advice.  We  were  naturally  interested  in  this  remarkable 
affair  and  were  glad  to  be  able  to  get  at  the  truth  of  the 
matter  and  bring  about  forgiveness  and  reconciliation  within 
the  family  circle. 

Libby  was  now  under  arrest  for  stealing  and  for  prostitu- 
tion. Her  statement  to  us  was  that  she  had  been  immoral 
and  wanted  to  be  sent  away  to  an  institution  where  she 
would  be  kept  out  of  trouble.  She  had  been  working  in  a 


164  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

factory.  Her  mother  and  step-father  were  temperate  and 
the  latter  was  always  good  to  her  and  to  her  brother.  She 
told  about  being  extremely  nervous  when  she  got  to  think- 
ing about  different  things,  and  maintained  that  she  worried 
so  much  at  times  that  she  did  not  know  what  she  was  doing. 
Later  we  learned  from  her  of  her  little  sister's  death,  of  the 
fact  that  the  child  was  not  really  her  sister,  and  that  her 
mother  had  not  been  married  to  her  present  husband  until 
the  time  of  the  trial,  although  for  long  they  had  been  living 
together.  She  added  that  she  had  been  a  witness  five  times 
in  court  against  her  mother  and  step-father.  A  younger 
brother  had  also  testified  against  them  to  some  minor  extent. 
"We  had  to  tell  what  we  saw  —  we  told  enough  lies  as  it 
was." 

Following  the  latter  remark  as  a  clew  we  went  as  thoroughly 
as  we  could  into  the  details  of  the  whole  case.  No  report 
of  the  court  proceedings  being  available  we  obtained  what 
we  could  from  the  newspaper  accounts.  Obviously,  how- 
ever, much  of  these  was  impressionistic  and  unreliable. 
The  coroner's  physician  testified  to  many  bruises  being  on 
the  body,  and  to  the  bottom  of  the  feet  being  blistered. 
The  report  of  what  the  police  said  at  the  inquest  made  any- 
thing but  conclusive  testimony.  Even  from  that,  the  mur- 
der seemed  highly  improbable.  It  was  shown  that  a  physi- 
cian was  called  to  the  child  before  she  died,  but  did  not 
respond.  Libby  testified  at  the  inquest  and  later  against 
her  mother,  stating  that  the  child  had  been  beaten  and 
tortured  in  various  ways.  We  also  learned  from  other 
than  newspaper  sources  that  when  Libby  was  waiting  to 
testify,  with  her  mother  suffering  imprisonment  in  the  same 
building,  the  girl  was  nonchalantly  singing  ragtime  songs 
in  the  court-house  corridors. 

The  facts  about  the  alleged  murder  of  the  five  year  old 
child  as  we  could  finally  summarize  them  from  various  ac- 


CASES  OF  PATHOLOGICAL  ACCUSATION     165 

counts,  and  after  hearing  the  confession  of  Libby,  are  as 
follows.  This  child  was  an  epileptic  and  had  frequent  at- 
tacks of  falling,  when  she  injured  herself,  once  having  fallen 
in  this  way  against  a  hot  stove.  The  little  child  engaged  in 
extremely  bad  sex  habits.  Indeed,  Libby  herself  had  been 
somewhat  involved  with  her  in  these.  Once  when  she  was 
ill  hot  bricks  had  been  placed  in  the  bed,  and,  while  uncon- 
scious, her  feet  had  been  blistered.  The  child  had  also 
suffered  from  various  other  ailments,  including  a  skin  disease 
which  left  sore  places  and  scars.  When  she  died  Libby  first 
told  a  neighbor  that  the  parents  were  responsible  and  this 
person  referred  her  to  the  police.  The  false  testimony 
began  there  and  continued  at  the  inquest,  before  the  grand 
jury,  and  at  the  trial.  Upon  thorough  final  sifting  of  the  evi- 
dence in  court  nothing  was  found  in  the  least  indicating  that 
the  child  had  died  from  mistreatment.  The  younger  brother 
had  been  told  by  Libby  to  testify  against  the  mother.  There 
was  no  question  but  that  Libby  started  and  continued  the 
whole  trouble,  but  the  unnatural  fact  that  she  was  willing 
to  make  sworn  statements  jeopardizing  her  mother  made  her 
testimony  have  all  the  earmarks  of  antecedent  probability. 

The  mother  herself,  in  whom  we  gradually  came  to  have 
full  confidence,  informed  us  that  the  dead  child  had  an 
epileptic  attack  and  was  unconscious  for  several  hours 
before  she  died.  They  lived  on  the  outskirts  of  the  city  and 
it  was  bad  weather,  and  although  they  sent  twice  for  doctors, 
no  one  appeared.  The  child  had  been  mildly  whipped  at 
times  in  an  attempt  to  cure  her  of  her  bad  sex  habits.  She 
had  many  sores  from  her  skin  trouble  and  these  were  by 
some  interpreted  as  caused  by  beatings. 

When  under  our  observation,  and  during  our  attempt  to 
analyze  her  career,  Libby  underwent  a  change  of  attitude 
and  confessed  thoroughly  and  definitely  that  the  story 
about  the  murder  was  lies  all  the  way  through.  For  the 


166  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

sake  of  the  poor  little  mother  we  had  the  girl  make  a  sworn 
statement  to  this  effect.  It  was  of  some  little  interest  to 
us  to  note  that  the  police  account  given  in  the  newspapers 
about  the  little  child  being  beaten  with  a  rubber  hose  was 
derived  from  the  story  told  by  Libby.  It  was  a  wonder- 
fully dramatic  and  pathetic  scene  when  this  woman  met 
her  daughter  and  the  latter  confessed  to  her  lies  and  asked 
forgiveness.  All  the  mother  could  say  was,  "Oh,  the  suf- 
fering she  has  caused  me !  But  I  do  want  her  to  be  a  good 
girl." 

From  the  girl's  long  stories  to  us  we  may  derive  the  fol- 
lowing points  of  interest.  Before  her  confession  she  was 
very  emotional  on  the  subject  of  her  little  sister.  She 
dwelled  much  upon  her  dreams  of  the  child,  but  proved 
self-contradictory  about  the  matter  of  her  death,  as  well  as 
about  her  own  history.  Even  then  she  began  telling  us 
what  a  bad  girl  she  herself  was  in  various  ways.  She  said, 
"  I  did  not  see  Laura  die,  but  I  guess  they  did  burn  her  up 
because  her  finger  tips  were  all  gone  and  her  hands  wore 
all  swollen  up.  Ma  said  she  would  burn  her  up  if  she  did 
not  quit  wetting  the  bed.  Yes,  I  used  to  worry  about  Laura 
awful.  She  always  had  been  the  trouble.  I  would  have 
been  a  good  girl  if  it  had  not  been  for  her.  I  used  to  worry 
so  fierce  that  I  could  not  help  from  stealing,  and  then  when 
I  stole  I  was  scared  to  go  back  to  my  jobs.  I  had  to  have 
money  and  so  I  made  good  money  by  going  with  these 
fellows.  I  used  to  feel  fierce  about  the  money  I  took  from 
my  mother  and  used  to  put  it  back  and  then  would  say, 
'No,  I  just  must  have  it.'" 

This  girl  had  been  working  at  different  factories  and  homes 
since  her  mother's  trial.     She  confessed  to  thieving  from 
stores.     The  stealing  she  had  done  at  home  was,  it  se> 
long  before  the  death  of  the  little  child.     Libby  made  much 
of  her  mental  states  and  of  her  dream-life  in  talking  to  us. 


CASES  OF  PATHOLOGICAL  ACCUSATION    167 

"  I  like  to  go  to  nickel  shows.  I  saw  a  sad  piece  once  and  if 
I  feel  sad  now  I  think  about  it  and  it  makes  me  want  to  go 
to  my  mother.  I  have  a  funny  feeling  about  going  home. 
I  don't  know  what  it  is.  At  night  I  dream  about  it  and 
something  keeps  telling  me  to  go  home.  I  want  to  go  to  an 
institution  now  and  learn  to  do  fancy  work  and  to  be  good, 
and  then  I  want  to  go  home." 

Libby  told  us  enough  about  her  first  father  for  us  to  know 
he  had  had  a  terrifically  bad  influence  upon  her.  She  also 
long  associated  with  bad  companions  who  instructed  her 
thoroughly  in  the  ways  of  immorality.  She  described 
attacks  in  which  she  felt  weak  and  thought  she  was  going 
to  fall,  but  never  did.  (The  young  child  in  the  family  who 
had  epilepsy  was  no  relation  whatever  to  her.)  She  knew 
that  her  mother  had  long  been  living  with  her  step-father  in 
common-law  relationship,  but  insisted  on  what  was  undoubt- 
edly the  truth,  namely,  that  they  were  temperate  and  very 
respectable  people.  Libby  never  gave  us  any  explanation 
for  her  testimony  against  her  mother,  but  acknowledged 
that  she  herself  had  been  delinquent  earlier. 

The  physical  examination  showed  a  normally  developed 
girl :  weight  108  Ibs. ;  height  5  ft.  3  in.  Well  shaped  head 
and  rather  delicate  features.  Her  teeth  showed  a  defective 
line  in  the  enamel  near  the  gums  on  the  incisors  and  the 
cuspids.  Bites  her  finger  nails.  Slight  irregularity  of 
the  left  pupil.  Careful  examination  of  the  eyes  in  other 
ways  entirely  negative.  Prompt  reaction  of  pupils  to  light. 
No  sensory  defect  of  importance.  Knee  jerks  active.  Heart 
sounds  normal,  and  all  other  examination  failed  to  show 
defect.  Complained  of  frequent  headaches,  but  these 
were  not  of  great  severity.  After  information  from  the 
mother  we  felt  that  Libby's  feelings  of  weakness  and  trem- 
blings were  probably  of  the  hysterical  variety. 

During  the  period  in  which  we  had  Libby  under  observa- 


168  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

tion  she  showed  more  or  less  emotional  disturbance,  but  even 
so  we  were  able  to  assure  ourselves  that  her  mental  ability 
was  fair.  We  did  not  expect  good  results  from  formal  edu- 
cation because  in  her  case  it  had  been  very  irregular.  Many 
of  our  ability  tests,  however,  were  done  well,  but  she  failed 
where  she  was  asked  to  demonstrate  good  powers  of  concen- 
tration and  attention.  We  noted  that  she  showed  a  very 
eager  attitude  toward  her  work,  but  was  nervous  about  it. 
Always  pleasant  demeanor. 

Most  significant  results  were  obtained  on  the  "Aussage" 
or  testimony  test.  After  viewing  our  standard  picture  she 
volunteered  only  8  details  in  free  recital.  On  cross-exami- 
nation she  gave  21  more,  but  no  less  than  7  of  these  were 
incorrectly  stated.  Then  she  accepted  the  4  suggestions 
which  were  given  her.  This  result  from  a  girl  of  her  age 
and  ability  was  exceedingly  poor. 

We  never  found  any  evidence  whatever  of  aberrational 
mental  conditions.  Our  final  diagnosis  was  "fair  in  mental 
ability  with  poor  educational  advantages." 

It  should  be  definitely  understood  in  considering  this 
case  that  even  to  the  time  of  our  last  interview  with  Libby, 
after  she  had  acknowledged  her  own  extensive  prevarica- 
tions, we  had  evidences  of  the  unreliability  of  her  word. 
In  giving  details  she  never  made  any  special  effort  to  tell 
the  truth,  whether  it  was  in  regard  to  the  date  of  her  father's 
death  or  any  other  immaterial  detail.  We  were  inclined  to 
classify  her  as  a  pathological  liar,  as  well  as  a  case  of  patho- 
logical false  accusation.  Her  traits  as  a  liar  and  a  generally 
difficult  case  have,  we  learn,  been  maintained  during  her 
stay  up  to  the  present  time  in  an  institution  for  delinquent 
girls. 

From  the  fairly  intelligent  mother,  who  cooperated  well 
with  us,  we  obtained  a  carefully  stated  developmental  his- 
tory. During  pregnancy  with  Libby  the  mother  was  run 


CASES  OF  PATHOLOGICAL  ACCUSATION     169 

over  by  a  bicycle,  but  was  not  much  injured.  The  child 
was  born  at  full  term  and  was  of  normal  size  and  vitality. 
Instruments  were  used,  but  no  damage  was  known  to  have 
been  done.  Libby  walked  and  talked  early.  A  couple  of 
times  when  she  was  an  infant  she  had  convulsions,  but  never 
after  that.  From  7  weeks  until  she  was  3  years  old  there 
was  constant  trouble  on  account  of  some  form  of  indigestion. 
For  a  time  at  that  age  she  was  in  the  hospital,  but  the  mother 
was  never  told  exactly  what  the  trouble  was.  Her  stomach 
was  large.  As  an  older  child  she  was  subject  to  fits  of  anger 
when  she  could  not  have  her  way.  She  never  had  anything 
that  was  suggestive  of  epilepsy.  Twice  she  fainted,  but 
once  was  when  she  came  home  half  frozen  one  winter's  day. 
At  11  years  she  had  pneumonia.  She  menstruated  at  14 
years. 

The  heredity  and  family  history  in  this  case  is  of  great 
interest.  Libby's  mother  went  to  work  for  her  first  hus- 
band's family  in  the  old  country.  At  about  that  time  this 
man's  first  wife  died,  but  he  had  previously  left  her.  He 
came  of  a  good  family,  he  was  himself,  however,  a  hard- 
drinking  man.  He  left  two  children  by  his  first  wife  with 
his  parents  and  came  to  this  country  with  Libby's  mother. 
Here  they  lived  in  a  common-law  marriage  relationship  for 
many  years,  and  two  children  (one  of  them  Libby)  were 
born  to  them.  The  man  continued  to  be  a  terrible  drunkard 
and  was  probably  insane  at  times.  He  once  bought  a  rifle 
to  kill  his  family.  He  was  notorious  for  his  great  change- 
ableness  of  disposition.  Sometimes  he  would  be  very  pleas- 
ant, and  then  quickly  be  seized  by  some  impulse  when  he 
would  grind  his  teeth,  become  very  angry,  and  use  vile  lan- 
guage. Even  when  sober  he  would  go  along  talking  to 
himself  and  people  would  follow  him  on  the  street  to  hear 
what  he  was  saying.  He  threatened  often  to  kill  his  wife. 
He  deserted  her  at  times  for  months  together.  He  only 


170  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

partially  supported  his  family  and  his  wife  worked  as  a 
washerwoman.  She  left  him  once,  but  later  went  back  to 
him. 

In  evidence  of  the  character  of  this  man  and  his  wife 
we  have  seen  several  statements  from  reliable  people.  The 
man's  son  by  his  first  wife  came  to  this  country  and  lived 
with  them.  He  found  his  own  father  impossible  —  a  terribly 
bad  man  who  was  continually  fighting  at  home.  He  him- 
self urged  his  step-mother  to  break  up  the  home  on  account 
of  the  way  in  which  she  was  abused.  He  made  a  statement 
of  this  fact  under  oath.  (It  is  only  fair  to  say  in  this  whole 
connection  that  these  people  all  came  from  a  part  of  Europe 
where  what  we  call  a  common-law  marriage  is  an  ordinary  re- 
lationship.) It  was  from  the  language  of  her  father  that 
Libby  first  gained  acquaintance  with  bad  sex  ideas,  we  are 
assured  by  the  mother.  After  a  terrific  time  of  stress 
Libby's  mother  was  rescued  from  her  miserable  conditions 
by  the  man  who  later  lived  with  her  and  finally  married 
her,  and  who  has  supported  her  and  been  true  to  her  ever 
since.  He  is  a  sympathetic  man  of  good  reputation. 

Libby's  maternal  grandparents  died  early  and  her  mother 
had  to  begin  very  young  to  support  herself.  All  that  we 
know  of  the  mother's  developmental  history  is  that  she 
had  some  sort  of  illness  with  convulsions  once  as  a  child 
and  is  said  to  have  been  laid  away  for  dead.  She  has  broil  UTS 
and  sisters  who  are  said  to  be  quite  normal.  She  knows 
her  own  relatives  and  her  first  husband's,  also,  and  feels 
very  sure  there  has  been  no  case  of  insanity,  feebleminded- 
ness, or  epilepsy  among  them. 

Libby's  moral  history  is  of  great  import.  She  became 
definitely  delinquent  very  early  in  life.  At  13  years  she 
had  already  been  in  an  institution  for  delinquent  girls  in 
an  eastern  State  and  the  superintendent  writes  that  she  was 
notorious  for  disobedience,  lying,  and  stealing.  She  was 


CASES  OF  PATHOLOGICAL  ACCUSATION    171 

placed  there  twice,  besides  having  been  returned  once  after 
an  escape.  When  she  was  6  or  7  years  of  age  she  began 
thieving.  She  took  things  from  her  mother's  trunk  and 
pawned  them.  The  child  stole  from  the  people's  rooms 
where  her  mother  worked  as  janitress.  Later  she  was 
truant  and  associated  with  immoral  girls.  In  Chicago 
she  stole  a  bracelet  and  a  ring  from  a  down- town  store,  wear- 
ing the  bracelet  later.  She  took  $15  from  a  neighbor's 
house.  She  went  to  saloons  in  company  with  an  immoral 
woman,  and  at  least  on  one  occasion  she  had  been  drinking. 
At  12  or  13  she  was  known  to  be  "crazy  about  boys,"  but 
probably  was  not  immoral  then.  The  mother  insists  that 
the  girl,  resembling  her  father  in  this,  is  most  changeable 
in  disposition.  Long  before  the  trial  for  murder  her  pastor 
had  urged  the  mother  to  put  the  girl  away  in  an  institution, 
but  the  mother's  heart  was  too  soft.  (It  seems  strange 
that  all  this  evidence  of  the  girl's  own  bad  character  and 
unreliability,  which  was  readily  obtained  by  us,  was  not 
utilized  at  the  time  when  she  first  made  the  charges  of  mur- 
der.) 

The  mother's  explanation  of  Libby's  behavior  is  that  it 
was  spite  work.  However,  that  is,  of  course,  unsatisfactory. 
The  mother  not  long  previously  earnestly  had  warned  the 
girl  against  pursuing  her  downward  path  and  had  stated 
she  must  be  sent  away  again  if  she  did  not  do  better.  Libby 
then  was  doing  pretty  much  as  she  pleased,  for  the  mother,  who 
was  all  along  a  frail  woman,  sick  much  of  the  time,  had  really 
no  control  over  her  daughter.  Another  feature  of  the  case 
that  is  interesting  came  out  in  the  fact  that  Libby  herself 
had  neglected  the  little  epileptic  girl  who  died.  When  the 
mother  was  ill  in  bed  Libby  had  refused  to  properly  care 
for  the  child.  To  some  extent  she  also  engaged  in  bad  sex 
practices  with  the  little  girl.  Libby  never  gave  us  the  slight- 
est indication  that  her  false  testimony  was  incited  by  spite. 


172  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

Anyhow,  she  involved  the  step-father,  who  she  always  in- 
sisted had  been  very  good  to  her.  The  motive  undoubtedly 
is  not  so  simply  explained.  A  really  deep  analysis  of  the 
behavior  could  not  be  undertaken. 


Mental  conflicts :  About  sex  experiences  Case  13. 

and  own  Girl,  16  yrs. 

misbehavior. 
Bad  companions :  Including  father. 

Home  conditions :   Notoriously  bad  in  early  life. 
Heredity:    Father  alcoholic,  brutal,  and  per- 
haps insane. 

Delinquencies :  Mentality : 

False  accusations.     (Extreme  case.)  Fair  ability. 

Stealing. 
Sex  immorality,  etc. 


CASE  14 

Summary:  A  girl  of  13  during  the  last  year  or  more  had  been 
lying  excessively  and  in  uncalled-for  ways.  She  also  obtained 
money  by  misrepresentations  and  had  made  false  charges  of  sex 
assault  against  a  stranger.  To  be  thought  of  as  causative  factors 
were  defects  of  environment  and  possibly  heredity,  markedly 
imperfect  vision,  improperly  obtained  sex  knowledge,  and  a  dis- 
tinct mental  conflict. 

We  were  asked  to  study  this  Emma  X.  on  account  of 
the  various  social  issues  involved  in  her  case.  Her  family 
found  her  beyond  control;  she  had  been  expelled  from 
school ;  by  her  false  accusations  she  had  created  much  trouble 
for  the  police  in  her  home  town ;  officials  of  a  public  welfare 
agency  found  her  altogether  difficult  to  understand.  We 
obtained  an  account  of  the  case  from  several  sources,  includ- 
ing the  mother. 

The  trouble  with  her  had  begun  about  a  year  previously. 


CASES  OF  PATHOLOGICAL  ACCUSATION    173 

She  had  been  notoriously  untruthful,  and  had  forged  a 
relative's  name  to  the  extent  of  obtaining  $40  —  in  small 
sums.  Emma  remained  out  late  in  the  evening  sometimes, 
and  on  three  occasions  stayed  out  all  night.  The  first  time 
this  happened  she  came  home  scratched  and  untidy  and  told 
a  sensational  story  which  led  to  much  newspaper  notoriety. 
She  said  a  man  took  her  to  the  woods  —  this  was  in  the 
summertime  —  and  kept  her  there  all  night.  A  loafer  in 
the  town,  who  was  arrested  the  next  day,  she  positively 
identified  as  the  one  who  had  assaulted  her.  This  man  was 
later  discharged  in  the  police  court,  however,  because  he 
abundantly  proved  an  alibi,  and  because  by  this  time  the 
girl's  story  had  become  so  twisted  that  even  the  mother  did 
not  believe  it.  A  physician's  examination  also  tended  to 
prove  that  no  assault  had  been  attempted. 

After  this  Emma  was  known  to  sleep  one  night  in  a  cellar 
coal-bin.  In  stealing  and  general  lying  she  became  worse 
until  with  a  change  of  residence  to  an  uncle's  home  she  im- 
proved for  a  time.  It  was  after  a  little  backsliding  that  we 
saw  her. 

The  mother  frankly  tells  us  that  the  girl's  mind  must 
be  affected ;  otherwise  how  could  she  act -as  she  does.  Emma 
has  complained  frequently  of  headaches  and  of  a  little  dizzi- 
ness. She  has  lately  been  lonely  for  a  sister  who  went  away. 
For  the  last  two  years  Emma  has  not  seemed  altogether 
well;  she  has  been  nervous.  A  time  ago  she  had  for  a 
friend  a  girl  who  spoke  too  freely  with  men,  and  her  mother 
stopped  the  companionship.  This  other  girl  has  a  sister 
in  the  Industrial  School.  Emma's  mother  does  not  know  of 
any  definite  harm  done  by  the  companionship. 

During  the  pregnancy  with  Emma  the  mother  had  a  rather 
hard  time  for  a  while  on  account  of  the  severe  illness  of  an- 
other child.  The  pregnancy  began  when  the  mother  was 
still  nursing  a  baby.  However,  when  Emma  was  born  she 


174  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

proved  to  be  a  healthy  and  normal  child.  Birth  was  normal. 
No  convulsions.  First  walked  and  talked  at  the  usual  age. 
She  was  a  fat  child  until  8  years,  and  then,  after  an  attack  of 
pneumonia,  she  began  to  ail  somewhat.  At  10  years  tonsils 
and  adenoids  were  removed.  The  mother  had  no  knowl- 
edge of  Emma's  defective  vision.  Emma  started  to  school 
at  7  years,  but  at  13  had  reached  only  the  5th  grade. 

There  are  8  living  children  in  the  family ;  one  died  in 
infancy.  There  has  never  been  much  illness  among  them. 
Most  of  them  did  well  in  school.  The  family  physician  says 
the  boys  show  a  "queer  streak,"  but  nothing,  evidently,  at 
all  well  defined  as  compared  with  the  career  of  Emma,  whom 
he  characterizes  as  a  "moral  pervert."  The  mother  is  a 
well-meaning,  hard-working,  moderately  intelligent  woman 
of  about  45.  She  is  said  to  be  somewhat  slack  in  her  house- 
hold, but  perfectly  honest.  The  father  is  desperately 
alcoholic  and  peculiar  at  times.  It  is  not  known  that  his 
aberrations  arc  ever  shown  apart  from  his  drinking.  Years 
ago  he  was  in  a  hospital  for  the  insane  for  several  months  as 
an  alcoholic  patient.  The  trouble  with  this  girl  is  said  to 
have  led  him  to  drink  again.  Both  parents  were  from  immi- 
grant families.  It  is  positively  denied  that  there  are  any 
cases  of  insanity,  feeblemindedness,  or  epilepsy  on  either 
side.  Some  other  members  of  the  family  are  known  to  have 
better  homes. 

On  the  physical  side  we  found  a  small  child  for  her  age; 
weight  81  Ibs.,  height  4  ft.  9  in.  Nutrition  and  color  fairly 
good.  Vision  about  20/80  R.  and  20/60  L. ;  never  had 
glasses.  Crowded  teeth.  High  Gothic  palate.  Regular  feat- 
ures. Expression  peculiarly  stiff  with  eyes  wide  open.  Flushes 
readily.  With  encouragement  smiles  occasionally.  Other 
examination  negative.  Tonsils,  and  probably  adenoids, 
removed  three  years  previously;  formerly  had  trouble  with 
breathing  through  the  nose.  Complains  much  of  frequent 


CASES  OF  PATHOLOGICAL  ACCUSATION    175 

frontal  headaches.  Says  she  gets  dizzy  often  in  the  school- 
room. < 

Our  "psychological  impressions,"  dictated  by  Dr.  Bronner, 
state  that  at  first  we  found  Emma  very  quiet  and  diffident, 
possibly  somewhat  shy  and  timid.  At  best  she  did  not  talk 
freely,  only  in  monosyllables  as  a  rule.  She  appears  rather 
nervous.  She  says  she  thinks  of  lots  of  things  she  does  not 
speak  of.  Emma  smiles  in  friendly  enough  fashion,  and 
later  became  more  at  ease,  and  more  talkative.  She  was 
rather  deliberate  in  work  with  tests.  With  concrete  material 
she  did  better  than  with  tasks  more  purely  mental.  She 
succeeds  eventually  with  nearly  everything,  but  is  slow. 
She  seems  anxious  to  do  well,  but  acts  as  if  unable  to  rouse 
herself  to  any  great  effort.  She  is  quite  inaccurate  in 
arithmetic,  and  only  fair  in  other  school  studies.  Emotions 
normal.  In  many  ways  appears  normally  childish.  Her 
interest  in  fairy  tales  and  in  the  type  of  make-believe  plays 
in  which  she  engages  with  her  younger  sisters  seems  mixed 
with  her  wonderment  in  regard  to  sex  life.  There  is  a 
distinct  tendency  to  day-dreaming. 

In  reviewing  the  results  of  tests  the  only  peculiarities 
to  be  noted  are  a  definite  weakness  displayed  in  the  powers 
of  mental  representation  and  analysis  (she  failed  on  Test  X, 
usually  readily  done  at  12  years),  and  a  rather  undue  amount 
of  suggestibility  and  inaccuracy  in  response  to  the  "Aussage" 
test  (Test  VI).  The  latter,  naturally-to-be-supposed  im- 
portant test  in  a  case  where  lying  was  a  characteristic, 
showed  a  result  that  belonged  to  the  imaginative,  inaccu- 
rate, and  partially  suggestible  type.  Many  details  of  the 
picture  were  recalled  correctly,  but  a  few  were  manufactured 
to  order,  and  4  out  of  7  suggestions  were  accepted. 

About  the  general  diagnosis  of  mentality  there  could 
be  no  doubt;  the  girl  had  fair  ability,  but  there  had 
been  poor  educational  advantages  on  account  of  ex- 


176  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

tremely  defective  vision.      No  signs  of  mental   aberration 
were  discovered. 

Our  attempt  to  try  to  help  Emma  decide  why  she  got  into 
so  much  difficulty  resulted  in  a  most  convincing  discovery 
of  beginnings.  We  found  a  keynote  to  the  situation  in 
asking  her  about  the  companionship  which  the  mother  had 
said  she  had  broken  up.  It  seems  that  Emma  had  for  a 
year,  quite  clandestinely,  been  familiar  \\ilh  tliis  family. 
She  apparently  now  desired  to  reveal  the  results  of  the 
acquaintance.  Long  ago  the  older  sister,  at  present  in  a 
Reform  School,  boasted  of  her  escapades  with  boys.  Emma 
states  that  she  herself  never  talked  of  these  topics  with 
her  mother,  who  had  said  that  girls  who  don't  do  such 
things  should  not  talk  about  them.  But  Tessie,  the  younger 
sister  of  the  delinquent  girl,  says  many  bad  words  about 
boys.  These  words  and  ideas  about  them  bother  Emma 
much.  They  come  up  in  her  mind,  "sometimes  at  ni-lit 
and  sometimes  in  the  day."  She  even  dreams  much  about 
them  and  about  boys.  "I  seen  the  girls  do  bad  things  with 
boys.  It  is  in  the  dream,  it  was  in  the  house,  in  the  front 
room  on  the  floor."  Emma  says  she  never  saw  it  in  reality, 
but  Tessie  had  boys  in  their  front  room  when  she  went  Chore. 
and  then  came  running  out  when  she  heard  Emma  coming. 
She  wonders  just  what  Tessie  does.  Boys  never  bother 
Emma,  but  all  these  ideas  bother  her.  "Then  I  think  that 
the  boys  are  going  to  do  it  to  me."  In  school  she  cannot 
study  for  this  reason.  "Sure,  when  I  start  to  study  it 
comes  up.  I  just  think  about  what  she  tells  me,  T< 
She  tells  me  she  liked  to  do  these  things  with  boys." 

This  little  girl  in  the  couple  of  interviews  we  had  with 
her  gave  vent  to  much  expression  of  all  this  which  had 
perplexed  her,  and  she  really  seemed  to  want  help.  She 
was  very  willing  to  have  her  mother  told.  She  went  on 
finally  to  say  that  the  delinquent  girl  had  taught  her  long 


CASES  OF  PATHOLOGICAL  ACCUSATION    177 

ago  about  masturbation  and  that  she  thinks  of  it  every 
night  in  bed.  She  can  give  no  explanation  of  why  she  runs 
away  and  why  she  falsely  accused  the  man.  She  says  it 
was  not  true  at  all  what  she  said  about  him.  She  thinks  she 
would  behave  better  if  she  were  less  bothered  about  the 
things  which  those  girls  taught  her.  Emma  says  she  ques- 
tioned a  young  woman  relative  who  did  not  tell  her  any  more 
than  her  mother  did. 

Regarding  her  diversions  Emma  says  that  she  likes  read- 
ing, especially  fairy  tales.  She  reads  mostly  Andersen's 
Fairy  Tales.  She  enjoys  dressing  up  as  a  grown  lady  and 
playing  make-believe.  She  particularly  likes  to  go  to  bed 
early  and  lie  and  imagine  things.  She  imagines  sometimes 
that  she  is  grown  up  and  married  and  has  her  own  home  and 
children. 

The  neglect,  through  ignorance,  of  the  several  genetic 
features  of  Emma's  case  was  quite  clear.  The  mother  was 
made  acquainted  with  the  facts,  which  her  little  daughter 
then  affirmed  to  her,  and  she  promised  to  alter  conditions. 
We  insisted  on  attention  to  Emma's  eyes  and  general 
physical  conditions,  on  removal  from  neighborhood  asso- 
ciation with  these  old  companions,  on  the  necessity  for 
motherly  confidences,  on  watchfulness  to  break  up  sex 
habits,  and  on  the  development  of  better  mental  interests. 
Through  relatives  in  the  home  town  it  seemed  there  was 
some  chance  to  get  these  remedial  measures  undertaken. 

A  year  and  a  half  later  we  can  state  that  a  certain  number 
of  our  suggestions  were  followed  out.  The  mother  gained 
a  better  understanding  of  the  case  and  there  were  some, 
although  not  enough,  environmental  changes.  The  father's 
mental  condition  has  been  much  better,  perhaps  because  he 
has  largely  refrained  from  drink,  and  consequently  family 
affairs  are  more  stable.  The  girl  herself  is  said  not  to  be 
doing  perfectly  either  in  school  or  home  life,  but  to  be  vastly 


178  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

improved.  We  have  obtained  no  definite  statement  con- 
cerning whether  she  now  lies  at  all  or  not,  but  it  is  sure  that 
Emma  has  engaged  in  no  more  egregious  types  of  prevari- 
cations and  in  no  more  false  accusations.  Competent  observ- 
ers think  the  case  is  fairly  promising  in  its  general  moral 
aspects  if  environmental  conditions  continue  to  improve. 


Mental  conflict.  Case  14. 

Improper  sex  teachings.  Girl,  age  13. 

Bad  companions. 

Home  conditions:    Lack  of  understanding 

and  control. 
Father  alcoholic, 

insane  ( ?) 
Defective  vision. 

Delinquencies :  Mentality : 

False  accusations.  Ability  fair. 

Runaway. 
Obtaining  money  by  false  representations. 


CASE  15 

Summary:  Girl  of  16,  over  a  period  of  some  weeks  made 
extreme  accusations  against  several  members  of  her  family. 
She  gave  detailed  account  of  sex  immorality,  alleged  drunken- 
ness and  thieving,  and  an  attack  on  her  own  life.  She  had  her- 
self, it  was  found,  begun  delinquent  tendencies.  The  family 
circumstances  and  her  clearly  detailed  account  gave  the  color  of 
possibility  to  her  accusations,  but  investigation  proved  some  of 
them  false,  and  all  of  a  sudden,  after  maintaining  for  long  a 
most  convincing  demeanor,  she  withdrew  her  allegations.  Both 
before  and  since  this  episode  she  has  given  no  marked  evidence  of 
being  a  falsifier. 

We  were  asked  to  study  this  case  by  police  officials  who 
thought  perhaps  the  girl  was  the  victim  of  some  delusional 
state.  She  appeared  at  the  police  station  and  informed 


CASES  OF  PATHOLOGICAL  ACCUSATION     179 

them  her  adult  brother  had  been  thieving  from  the  place 
where  he  worked.  She  lived  with  him.  Investigation  by 
detectives  on  the  strength  of  her  convincingly  given  details 
proved  his  innocence.  When  the  brother  appeared  on  the 
scene  he  said  he  had  been  intending  to  report  her  on  account 
of  her  being  away  from  home.  She  herself  was  then  held 
in  custody. 

We  found  a  girl  in  very  good  general  physical  condition. 
Well  developed  in  sex  characteristics  and  a  very  mature 
type  of  face.  Outside  of  a  somewhat  enlarged  thyroid  and 
moderately  defective  vision,  we  found  nothing  abnormal. 
Weight  114  Ibs. ;  height  5  ft.  Notable  was  her  strong 
features,  deep  set  eyes,  high,  broad  forehead  and  sharp  chin. 

Our  study  of  her  on  the  mental  side  led  us  to  denominate 
her  as  having  fair  general  ability.  She  had  had  poor  edu- 
cational advantages.  We  noted  much  irregularity  on  work 
on  tests.  She  did  comparatively  poorly  on  anything  that 
called  for  careful  attention  and  concentration.  This  was 
especially  notable  when  she  was  dealing  with  abstractions 
or  situations  to  be  mentally  represented.  Although  she 
could  do  arithmetic  up  to  simple  division  she  made  a  bad 
failure  in  the  continued  process  of  subtraction  as  given  in 
the  Kraepelin  test  of  taking  8's  from  100.  In  the  work  on 
the  Code,  Test  XI,  she  found  it  altogether  impossible  to 
keep  her  mind  concentrated.  In  tests  where  perceptions 
were  largely  brought  into  play  she  did  very  well.  We 
noticed  that  she  was  possessed  of  a  very  dramatic  manner. 
She  sighed  frequently  as  she  worked.  She  was  very  nervous, 
continually  moving  her  hands  and  tapping  the  table.  She 
was  quite  satisfied  with  her  superficial  efforts.  It  was  very 
curious  that  we,  as  well  as  others,  were  able  to  note  her 
apparent  sincere  belief  in  her  own  statements  about  her 
family.  As  she  made  them  she  looked  the  interviewer 
straight  in  the  eyes ;  there  was  not  a  hint  of  evasiveness. 


180  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

Her  result  on  the  "Aussage"  (Test  VI)  was  very  meager. 
She  only  recalled  10  details  of  the  picture.  On  cross-exam- 
ination she  gave  correctly  14  more  items  and  was  wrong 
on  3  of  them.  She  accepted  only  2  out  of  5  suggestions 
offered  and  these  were  the  most  probable  ones. 

A  full  family  history  was  never  to  be  obtained.  The  best 
that  we  came  ultimately  to  know  was  that  her  father  and 
mother  had  been  long  dead  and  she  had  lived  in  institutions 
for  years,  then  with  a  relative  who  was  not  at  all  a  good  per- 
son, and  then  with  her  brother  and  sister,  whom  she  bitterly 
accused.  These  were  people  in  decidedly  poor  circumstances 
and  living  in  very  congested  quarters.  Indeed,  we  were 
inclined  to  believe,  finally,  that  crowded  housing  conditions 
with  the  necessary  unfortunate  familiarity  with  sex  affairs 
and  the  like  was  largely  responsible  for  her  trouble.  A  few 
months  prior  to  these  events  she  had  become  acquainted 
with  a  girl  who  had  drawn  her  into  running  away  from  home 
a  few  nights.  During  her  unsettled  home  life  she  had  seen 
a  good  deal  of  immorality  in  other  houses,  but  had  not  been 
immoral  herself.  Conditions  of  squalor  surrounded  the 
whole  situation. 

Her  accusations  against  her  family  as  told  to  others,  and 
reiterated  to  us,  involved  the  drunkenness  of  her  own  father 
and  mother.  (We  were  never  able  to  verify  whether  this 
charge  against  her  mother  was  true  or  not.)  Then  she  went 
on  to  allege  extreme  immorality  on  the  part  of  her  three 
sisters.  She  gave  these  in  the  utmost  detail.  (There  is 
little  doubt  but  that  one  of  her  sisters  was  rather  free  living 
before  she  was  married.)  She  constantly  maintained  that 
she  was  the  only  virtuous  one  in  the  family  and  had  withstood 
all  advances.  She  then  recounted  much  personal  abuse 
and  cruel  treatment,  and  accused  the  brother  and  his  wife 
of  an  attempt  to  poison  her  because  they  wanted  her  out  of 
the  way. 


CASES  OF  PATHOLOGICAL  ACCUSATION    181 

Her  story  was  told  in  such  detail,  was  so  well  remembered 
from  time  to  time,  and  she  presented  such  outward  form 
of  sincerity  that  experienced  people  were  led  to  believe  there 
must  be  much  in  what  she  said.  On  one  occasion,  under 
observation,  she  cried  nearly  all  of  two  days  because  one 
good  woman  would  not  believe  her  statements.  At  least 
she  said  this  was  the  reason  of  her  tears.  Her  general 
behavior  during  this  period  of  observation  was  perfect. 

We  found  her  hazy  and  somewhat  incoherent  about  a 
number  of  the  details  of  her  life,  but  she  had  lived  under 
such  varied  circumstances  that  this  alone  was  not  convincing 
of  her  insincerity.  When  we  met  her  brother  we  were  very 
sure  that  at  least  a  part  of  her  story  was  false.  He  seemed 
to  be  a  very  decent  fellow  and  was  really  interested  in  her. 
Several  months  earlier  he  had  trouble  with  her  on  account 
of  her  staying  out  late  at  night,  and  had  threatened  her. 
Then  there  was  no  more  difficulty  until  her  recent  acquaint- 
ance with  this  other  girl.  He  stated  that  he  had  been 
obliged  to  scold  her  very  severely,  and  then  finally  she  stayed 
away  for  five  nights  and  wound  up  by  going  to  the  police 
station  and  making  the  accusations  against  him  and  the 
other  members  of  the  family.  When  the  case  came  up  in 
court  she  stated  she,  wished  to  go  back  to  live  with  this 
brother  and  admitted  having  continued  misrepresentations 
about  him  and  the  others  in  the  family  since  her  acquaint- 
ance with  this  girl.  It  really  was  all  false.  She  was  placed 
under  probation  and  the  case  has  been,  except  for  environ- 
mental circumstances,  entirely  successful.  She  is  now  a 
young  married  woman,  and  has  had  no  further  delinquent 
record  against  her. 

Our  investigation  of  the  causation  showed  perhaps  self- 
protection  from  punishment  for  her  own  behavior,  but  there 
was  apparently  much  mental  conflict  about  sex  affairs  and 
she  had  a  very  unfortunate  acquaintance  with  such  details, 


182  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

resulting  partly,  as  she  acknowledged,  from  her  peeping 
through  keyholes  and  so  on.  On  account  of  her  peculiar 
unreliability  of  statement  and  many  quiet  and  staring  periods, 
seen  while  she  was  under  observation,  we  questioned  whether 
she  was  not  verging  on  psychotic  conditions.  However, 
all  this  tendency  seems  to  have  passed  away. 


Adolescent  instability.  Case  15. 

Girl,  16  years. 
Home   conditions:    Defective  through  poverty 

and  congestion. 
Early  sex   experiences    and    mental    conflict 

about  them. 

Reaction  to  own  delinquencies,  self  protec- 
tion phenomenon. 
Heredity.  Mentality : 

Delinquencies :  Fair  ability,  poor 

False  accusations.  advantages. 


CASE  16 

Summary:  A  motherless  girl  of  9}  years,  following  her  com- 
plaint of  local  symptoms,  which  proved  to  be  due  to  vulvitis, 
accused  her  father  and  brother' of  incest.  She  was  a  bright  child 
and  normally  affectionate,  even  towards  these  relatives.  Her 
father  and  brother  were  held  in  jail  for  several  weeks,  but  were 
dismissed  at  the  trial  because  of  the  ascertained  untruth  of  the 
charges. 

As  causative  factors  of  her  false  accusations  our  study  showed 
(a)  her  local  irritation,  (b)  -for  which  her  father  had  treated  her, 

(c)  prior  crowded  housing  conditions  with  her  father  and  brother, 

(d)  her  lack  of  mother's  control,  (e)  early  and  intimate  acquaint- 
ance with  atrocious  sex  knowledge  and  sex  habits,  and  (/)  re- 
cently becoming  the  center  of  interest  in  a  group  of  friends 
made  through  her  statement  of  the  vileness  of  family  conditions. 

We  were  requested  to  study  this  case  by  the  judge  of  the 
court  in  which  the  father  and  brother  of  Bessie  M.  were  to 


CASES  OF  PATHOLOGICAL  ACCUSATION     183 

be  tried  for  the  crime  of  incest  with  her.  At  a  preliminary 
hearing  the  judge  had  felt  that  the  remarkable  statements 
of  the  little  girl  savored  of  untruth,  and  that  the  character 
sustained  by  the  brother,  in  particular,  was  quite  out  of 
keeping  with  the  grave  accusations  against  him.  The  girl's 
charges,  so  clearly  detailed,  together  with  her  local  ailment, 
had  proved  thoroughly  convincing  to  a  group  of  women 
who  had  become  interested  in  her.  Bessie  was  evidently 
quite  normal  mentally  and  apparently  affectionately  re- 
garded her  only  near  relatives  —  this  father  and  brother. 
Her  story  appeared  thus  entirely  credible.  The  judge  stated 
that  he  had  been  approached  outside  of  court  by  these  women, 
who  in  their  righteous  indignation  were  insistent  upon  the 
need  of  dire  punishment  of  the  outrageous  conduct  of  Bessie's 
natural  protectors. 

We  found  a  rather  poorly  developed  little  girl.  Weight 
64  Ibs. ;  height  4  ft.  4  in.  Bright,  pleasant,  vivacious  ex- 
pression. Attitude  normal.  High,  prominent,  narrow  fore- 
head. Head :  length  19  cm.,  breadth  13  cm.  Slightly 
asymmetrical  frontal  bosses.  Snub  nose  ;  eyes  fairly  bright ; 
ears  asymmetrical  in  size  —  .6  cm.  difference  in  greatest 
length.  Thyroid  palpable.  Tonsils  enlarged  moderately. 
No  sensory  defect  of  importance.  Strength  good  for  size. 
Color  only  fairly  good.  (Results  of  gynecologic  examination 
later.) 

Bessie  was  given  a  wide  range  of  mental  tests,  with  the 
result  that  we  classified  her  as  being  well  up  to  the  ordinary 
in  ability.  Indeed,  considering  her  poor  school  advantages 
through  frequent  changes  of  residence  she  did  very  well  in 
the  subjects  covered  by  formal  education.  Her  memory 
processes  and  ability  to  testify  correctly  —  in  which  we  were 
naturally  most  interested  —  seemed,  so  far  as  we  were  able 
to  test  them,  quite  normal.  Of  a  standard  passage  about 
a  fire  (Test  XII),  which  she  read  once  to  herself,  she  recalled 


184  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

17  out  of  the  20  items.  A  passage  containing  12  main  details 
(Test  XIII),  which  was  read  to  her  in  the  usual  way  four 
times,  she  recalled  with  2  details  omitted.  The  "Aussage" 
test  (Test  VI)  was  done  very  well  indeed,  with  17  items  of 
the  picture  given  correctly  on  free  recital,  and  5  rejections 
out  of  the  7  suggestions  proffered.  Bessie's  conversation 
was  fluent  and  coherent,  her  range  of  information  was  good. 
She  showed  fondness  for  the  dramatic  statement. 

Her  mother  died  in  the  old  country  when  she  was  about 
four  years  old,  and  her  father  had  immediately  come  to 
America,  but  had  never  established  a  home  of  his  own. 
For  the  last  nine  months  Bessie  had  been  living  with  a 
woman,  Mrs.  S.,  who  was  deeply  interested  in  her.  Pre- 
viously to  this  she  roomed  for  about  six  months  with  her 
father  and  brother,  and  prior  to  that  time  she  had  been 
placed  about  in  different  homes  by  her  father.  After  some 
months  with  Mrs.  S.  she  complained  of  local  pain  and  irri- 
tation. When  taken  to  a  physician,  she  said  her  father  was 
accustomed  to  touch  her,  and  her  story  involved  incest  by 
both  her  father  and  brother.  After  others  had  become  inter- 
ested in  her  case,  the  matter  was  turned  into  the  hands  of 
the  police.  It  was  notable  that  during  this  period  Bessie's 
love  of  the  dramatic  was  being  fostered  by  her  newly  found 
woman  friend,  who  was  providing  her  with  lessons  in  dra- 
matic reading  and  taking  her  extremely  frequently  to  moving 
picture  shows  and  theatres. 

When  first  seen  by  us,  Bessie  reiterated  her  story  of  sexual 
relations  with  her  father  and  brother.  As  she  had  done 
with  others,  and  with  the  judge,  she  went  into  almost  con- 
vincing details.  Her  knowledge  of  such  relationships  was 
apparently  complete.  She  informed  us  that  she  had  caught 
"an  awful  disease"  from  her  father.  She  said  that  while 
rooming  with  them  her  sexual  relations  with  her  father  and 
brother  were  nightly  occurrences.  They  all  slept  in  one  bed. 


CASES  OF  PATHOLOGICAL  ACCUSATION    185 

A  careful  inquiry  into  Bessie's  earlier  knowledge  of  such 
things  brought  forth  the  most  astounding  account.  One 
may  say  that  this  little  girl  had  the  most  extensive  acquaint- 
ance with  many  kinds  of  pervert  sex  practices  that  one  has 
ever  known  in  a  young  individual.  She  now  said  that  the 
last  ones  who  engaged  in  such  things  with  her  were  her 
father  and  brother.  Her  experiences  began  at  5  years 
with  a  boy  and  a  girl,  and,  she  maintained,  they  had  been 
very  frequent  ever  since,  up  to  within  the  last  9  months. 
A  number  of  boys  and  girls  were  involved,  as  well  as  the 
men  in  two  households  where  she  had  been  placed.  The 
practices  she  had  engaged  in  were  many,  running  all  the  way 
from  self  use  of  pieces  of  broom  to  normal  intercourse,  and 
both  active  and  passive  forms  of  pervert  practices.  It  is 
unnecessary,  even  in  this  medical  case,  to  go  into  details  or 
to  give  her  actual  phraseology.  It  is  sufficient  to  say  that 
she  frankly  stated  her  early  discovery  of  the  pleasures  of 
local  stimulation  and  how  she  asked  others  to  give  it  to  her 
in  various  ways.  Then  she  performed  different  perversions 
on  boys  and  men.  She  told  about  observing  sex  relations 
between  husband  and  wife  in  households  where  she  had 
lived.  She  now  says  she  had  a  disease  before  she  came  home 
to  her  father  —  a  doctor  had  told  other  people  previously. 
The  men  in  two  homes  frequently  had  complete  intercourse 
with  her,  she  maintains,  and  gives  description  of  it. 

The  credible  substance  of  Bessie's  long  story  elaborately 
told  upon  inquiry  into  her  life  history  was  that  she  certainly 
had  had  many  sex  experiences.  When,  in  the  light  of  these, 
it  finally  came  to  the  question  of  the  charges  against  her 
father  and  brother  she  said  that  it  was  really  she  who  had 
been  the  instigator.  When  in  bed  she  had  begun  playing 
with  them.  She  described  her  method,  learned  before. 
She  now  says  they  did  not  have  real  intercourse  with  her,  but 
the  other  men  did. 


186  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

The  account  of  local  physical  conditions  as  obtained  from 
several  sources  is  as  follows.  Bessie  was  taken  to  a  physician 
for  vulvitis,  etc.,  by  some  people  before  she  came  back  to  her 
father.  During  the  period  she  roomed  with  her  father  he 
regularly  treated  her  locally  with  a  salve  and  a  wash.  The 
physician  who  later  examined  her  for  Mrs.  S.  found  the 
parts  so  swollen  that  he  could  make  no  diagnosis  of  ruptured 
hymen,  but  took  it  for  granted.  After  the  father  and 
brother  had  been  in  jail  for  some  weeks  the  inflammation 
had  subsided.  (It  is  only  fair  to  say  that  the  father  had 
clamored  for  a  specialist's  examination,  which,  he  contended, 
would  prove  his  innocence.  Of  course  he  was  not  aware 
of  her  earlier  experiences  or  he  would  not  have  been  so  sure.) 
Then  a  competent  gynecologist  found  that  coitus  had  never 
taken  place.  The  hymen  was  intact.  This  was  at  the 
time  we  studied  the  case.  On  the  day  of  the  trial,  I  with 
two  other  physicians  examined  the  girl.  It  was  found  that 
a  cotton  swab  about  f  of  an  inch  in  diameter  could  with 
difficulty  penetrate  the  vaginal  orifice.  There  was  not  the 
slightest  evidence  of  any  rupture  of  the  hymen  or  of  any 
vaginitis.  So  far  as  the  "awful  disease"  was  concerned, 
repeated  bacteriological  tests  over  a  considerable  period 
failed  to  show  the  extensive  vulvitis  to  be  due  to  gonorrhea. 
It  seemed  much  more  likely  that  it  was  due  to  nonspecific 
infection  following  traumatism  from  the  use  of  the  various 
foreign  objects  which  the  girl  told  she  had  used.  Perhaps 
it  \vas  partly  the  result  of  the  perversions  which,  judging  by 
her  knowledge  of  them,  had  been  practiced  by  others  on  her. 

We  were  informed  later  that  much  indignation  at  our 
report  to  the  judge  was  expressed  by  the  crowd  in  attendance 
at  the  trial.  The  girl's  first  story  was  so  well  told  that 
many  had  been  irrevocably  convinced  of  the  utter  guilt  of 
the  father. 

The  father  himself,  who  was  brought  to  us  in  the  course 


CASES  OF  PATHOLOGICAL  ACCUSATION    187 

of  our  study  of  the  case,  was  rather  a  low  type  in  appear- 
ance. He  was  a  poor  earner,  evidently  had  earlier  been 
alcoholic,  a  small  whining  figure  with  tears  in  his  eyes. 
His  appearance  would  prejudice  against  him.  The  brother, 
on  the  contrary,  made  an  unusually  good  impression.  He 
had  the  best  of  recommendations.  His  sister's  first  charges 
ought  not  to  have  been  believed  on  the  basis  of  his  qualifi- 
cations. There  had  been  5  children,  3  died  in  infancy. 
No  history  of  any  significance  was  obtained  except  that  the 
development  of  Bessie  had  apparently  been  normal  in  all 
ways.  Her  mother  was  said  to  be  normal.  Both  parents 
were  evidently  representative  products  of  the  underfeeding 
and  generally  poor  hygienic  conditions  of  the  laboring  classes 
in  a  large  Irish  city.  There  was  unquestionably  a  great 
feeling  of  affection  between  the  three.  Indeed,  Mrs.  S. 
stated  that  it  was  the  excessive  kissing  of  the  child  by  the 
father  which  made  her  suspicious.  Bessie  always  main- 
tained that  both  father  and  brother  treated  her  very  well 
and  that  she  loved  them  much. 

It  seemed  clear  to  us  that  Bessie  never  knew  in  the  least 
the  significance  of  the  charges  she  so  glibly  made  at  first. 
Her  mind  had  long  been  so  full  of  these  things,  and  their 
social  import  seemed  so  slight,  that  it  meant  no  vindictive- 
ness  towards  her  loved  ones  to  say  what  she  did  about  them. 
She  asserted  to  us  later  that  she  really  did  not  know  what 
she  said  to  the  judge  at  the  first  hearing.  The  case  illus- 
trated well  the  fallibility  of  a  young  girl's  accusations  coming 
even  from  the  lips  of  a  normally  bright  and  affectionate 
daughter  or  sister. 

For  her  own  protection  Bessie  was  given  a  trial  in  an  in- 
stitutional school.  From  there  it  was  reported  after  a  few 
months  that  her  mind  was  found  to  be  so  continually  upon 
sex  subjects  that  it  would  be  most  advisable  for  her  to  remain 
long  under  the  quietest  conditions  and  closest  supervision. 


188  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 


Physical  conditions:  Local  irritation.  Case  16. 

Girl,  age  9j. 
Housing  conditions:    Crowded. 

Early  sex  experiences:  Excessive  and  pervert. 
Parental  control  failure:    No  home,   no 

mother. 

Delinquencies :  Mentality : 

Serious  false  accusations.  Good  ability. 


CASE  17 

Summary:  Boy  of  16  years,  not  living  at  home,  made  false 
accusations  of  excessive  immorality  against  his  own  family. 
These  involved  sex  perversions,  and  he  implicated  even  his  own 
sister  and  brother,  and  alleged  the  connivance  of  his  mother. 
The  main  complaint  was  against  the  step-father,  who  he  also 
said  was  a  professional  thief.  The  improbability  of  such  stories 
being  told  without  good  foundation  led  to  much  time  being 
spent  on  investigating  the  case. 

As  possible  causative  factors  of  the  unmitigated  lying  we  found 
(a)  defective  heredity  leading  to  (&)  typical  constitutional  in- 
feriority with  the  peculiar  states  of  mind  characteristic  of  the 
latter,  (c)  poor  developmental  conditions  through  early  illnesses ; 
(<?)  excessive  bad  sex  practices  on  the  part  of  the  boy  himself. 
Vindictive  reaction  to  charges  of  delinquency  against  himself 
might  be  considered  a  factor  if  his  false  accusations  had  not 
been  made  without  any  such  stimulus  a  long  time  previously. 

(According  to  another  classification  this  case  belongs 
in  our  chapter  on  Border-line  Types.  It  is  retained  here 
because  it  so  well  illustrates  pathological  accusation.) 

John  S.,  an  undersized  boy  of  16,  a  pitiable  specimen,  when 
under  arrest  for  vagrancy  told  such  a  heartrending  story  of 
home  conditions,  with  assertions  against  family  morality, 


CASES  OF  PATHOLOGICAL  ACCUSATION    189 

that  the  judge  and  others  were  moved  to  indignation  and 
an  investigation  was  started.  The  general  feeling  was  that 
no  one  who  was  not  insane  could  make  such  statements 
about  their  nearest  of  kin  without  foundation  in  fact. 

We  found  a  poorly  developed,  but  fairly  nourished  young 
fellow;  weight  112  Ibs.,  height  5  ft.  2  in.;  good  strength 
for  his  size.  Stigmata :  slight  facial  asymmetry,  ears  very 
long  and  narrow,  dentition  very  irregular  —  one  upper 
canine  having  erupted  behind  the  central  incisors.  Tattoo- 
ing on  the  chest.  Vision  defective,  but  how  much  so  was  im- 
possible to  estimate  on  account  of  corneal  ulcer  and  general 
gonorrheal  ophthalmia.  Gait  and  attitude  very  slouchy. 
In  contrast  to  general  poor  development,  has  already  full 
sex  development  and  much  hair  over  body  for  his  age. 

On  the  mental  side  we  found  an  excitable  and  talkative 
fellow,  quite  coherent,  and  giving  in  no  way  any  indication 
of  aberration  by  the  form  or  trend  of  his  conversation.  He 
tells  us  he  reached  the  6th  grade.  He  willingly  works  on 
tests  and  we  note  the  general  result  as  follows :  Learning 
and  memory  processes,  both  for  logical  verbal  and  for  mean- 
ingless associations,  quite  good.  Perception  of  form,  normal. 
Power  of  analysis  of  situations  mentally  represented,  only 
mediocre.  Associative  processes,  verbal,  not  normally 
accurate.  Writes  good  hand.  Simple  spelling  correct. 
Arithmetic  correct  for  4th  grade.  Tests  for  several  other 
points  hardly  fair  to  register  on  account  of  defective  eye- 
sight. On  one  he  failed  because  of  not  knowing  the  alphabet 
in  order.  Suggestibility  extreme,  as  evidenced  by  testi- 
mony test.  In  giving  report  on  the  "Aussage"  picture, 
Test  VI,  he  enumerated  12  items,  11  of  them  correct,  on 
free  recital.  Then  he  gave  11  more  details,  all  correct,  on 
cross-examination,  but  he  accepted  no  less  than  7  out  of  8 
suggestions  offered. 
Information  on  current  events  is  good,  but  on  points 


190  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

said  to  have  been  learned  at  school  is  much  mixed  up.  In 
giving  responses  to  questions,  he  seized  on  any  slight  sug- 
gestion and  adopted  the  idea.  For  instance,  he  said  he  had 
read  the  life  of  Napoleon,  but  could  not  remember  to  which 
country  he  belonged.  When  England  was  suggested  he 
agreed  to  it.  He  then  told  various  wrong  incidents  of 
Napoleon's  life  and  death,  also  as  suggested  by  the  examiner. 
It  finally  came  out  that  Bonaparte  was  an  English  noble- 
man who  fought  against  France  and  Waterloo,  was  never 
defeated,  and  got  sick  in  England.  Then  in  the  same  way 
we  get  the  information  that  this  country  gained  its  freedom 
from  France,  that  Lincoln  was  president  directly  after  Wash- 
ington, and  so  on.  John  has  read  books  from  the  library 
and  various  magazines,  a  considerable  assortment.  He 
knows  almost  nothing  of  even  simple  scientific  facts,  but 
is  well  acquainted  with  items  gained  from  the  newspapers 
and  the  theatres. 

Going  into  his  story,  as  we  were  requested,  we  heard  at. 
once  about  the  cruel  conditions  at  home.  The  boy's  own 
father  had  been  dead  for  ten  years  and  up  to  within  three 
years  he  had  lived  with  a  relative.  While  he  was  there 
letters  indicated  that  queer  things  were  going  on  at  home, 
and  the  step-father  was  cruel  to  the  other  children.  The 
mother  was  afraid  to  tell  the  whole  story.  When  the  boy 
came  home  the  step-father  at  once  began  pervert  sex  prac- 
tices with  him,  horrible  things,  and  John  found  this  man  had 
been  doing  deeds  of  the  same  kind  with  an  older  sister  ami 
a  younger  brother.  It  seems  the  step-father  also  beats  the 
children  and  has  put  this  older  girl  out  of  the  house.  Re- 
cently he  has  left  his  wife. 

When  we  go  into  John's  own  record,  with  which  we  had 
already  made  ourselves  acquainted,  he  tells  us  he  does  not 
know  what  gets  into  him,  but  he  has  run  away  from  home 
no  less  than  eleven  times.  He  works  for  a  while,  takes  his 


CASES  OF  PATHOLOGICAL  ACCUSATION    191 

wages  and  then  stays  at  a  hotel.  He  says  he  has  been 
arrested  several  times  on  this  account.  His  mother  always 
telephones  to  the  police  about  him  and  that  is  why  he  is 
under  detention  now.  He  wishes  he  were  at  home.  The 
next  day  we  went  into  more  of  the  details  which  had  been 
liberally  sketched  to  the  judge  and  other  officials.  We  now 
learn  that  the  step-father  is  a  professional  thief  and  that 
stolen  goods  he  has  taken  are  to  be  found  in  their  home. 
He  often  leaves  home  and  perhaps  takes  his  wife's  wages 
—  she  has  to  work  out  —  and  just  now  is  again  living  at  a 
hotel.  The  family  have  been  informed  by  a  physician  that 
he  is  probably  crazy. 

On  a  later  occasion  the  boy  told  my  assistant  that  he 
wished  to  relate  the  whole  story  of  his  family.  He  then 
describes  how  the  step-father  even  blackens  the  eyes  of 
the  sister  and  that  he  has  long  been  immoral  with  her.  It 
now  appears  that  perversions  began  between  this  man  and 
John  some  two  months  ago,  never  before  that.  The  mother 
is  there  in  the  house  all  the  time  and  knows  about  and  per- 
mits the  step-father's  immorality  with  daughter  and  son. 
Cross-questioned  afterward,  the  boy  (evidently  remember- 
ing what  he  said  before)  states  these  practices  with  him 
began  the  night  he  came  home  three  years  ago,  but  they  had 
been  going  on  with  his  sister  before  that.  He  knows  this 
because  his  mother  wrote  and  told  him  about  it.  His  uncle 
wrote  and  told  her  to  put  a  stop  to  it,  but  the  step-father 
intimidates  her  with  a  revolver. 

Our  notes  state  that  one  afternoon  when  tests  were  being 
given  him,  John  seemed  to  be  in  an  excited  state  and  often 
interrupted  the  procedure  with  talking.  Seen  in  the  hall- 
way soon  afterwards  he  waved  his  hand  and  insisted  on 
telling  more  about  home  conditions  and  about  what  the 
officers  would  find  if  they  went  up  there.  On  still  another 
occasion  he  reiterated  the  same  things,  giving  many  details. 


192  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

It  was  about  this  time  that  John  was  found  to  give 
strangely  fantastic  and  childish  accounts  of  circumstances 
with  which  he  had  been  connected.  We  transcribe  his 
story  of  a  celebration  at  a  school  —  it  is  a  good  example  of 
his  tales. 

"They  had  it  on  Lincoln's  birthday  and  on  the  4th  of 
July,  too.  The  teacher  did  not  believe  that  Abraham  Lin- 
coln freed  the  slaves.  The  children  said,  oh  yes,  he  did. 
But  they  did  not  believe  it.  The  children  all  hollered  and 
said  yes,  he  did.  Then  they  all  run  up  on  the  platform  and 
got  to  fighting  about  it.  The  teachers  would  not  believe 
that  Lincoln  freed  the  slaves  till  an  old  soldier  came  up 
there  and  told  them  yes,  he  did  do  it."  I  questioned  him 
about  this  matter  whether  it  was  only  a  play  they  had,  or 
were  they  in  earnest.  "Oh,  all  in  earnest  and  they  had  a 
fight  about  it.  The  teachers  would  not  believe  that  Abra- 
ham Lincoln  freed  the  slaves  and  the  children  all  run  up  on 
the  platform  and  had  a  fight  about  it." 

Home  conditions  were  next  looked  up  by  a  court  investi- 
gator and  we  came  to  know  the  mother  and  sister.  Much 
to  our  surprise  we  found  them  to  be  quite  self-respecting, 
entirely  credible  people  of  good  reputation  in  the  neighbor- 
hood. The  mother  is  an  honest  hard-working  woman  and 
is  exceedingly  depressed  about  the  career  of  this  boy.  The 
sister  is  a  modest  and  unquestionably  good,  self-supporting, 
young  woman.  Not  a  word  was  heard  against  them  in  any 
way.  In  their  distress  they  gave  us  the  full  story. 

The  parents  were  immigrants  when  young.  The  father 
died  through  an  accident  some  ten  years  previously.  The 
mother  has  kept  track  of  the  members  of  both  families 
fairly  well.  She  had  a  sister  insane,  said  to  have  become  so 
as  the  result  of  the  menopause.  The  father  himself  had 
occasional  attacks  of  epilepsy,  but  they  were  never  frequent 
enough  to  hinder  him  working  as  an  artisan.  He  v 


CASES  OF  PATHOLOGICAL  ACCUSATION     193 

very  moderate  user  of  alcohol.  The  mother  has  always 
been  fairly  healthy.  Thinks  she  now  has  a  cancer.  There 
are  no  other  significant  points  in  heredity  that  she  knows. 
There  are  three  living  children;  a  number  of  miscarriages 
came  after  John  was  born. 

The  pregnancy  and  birth  ^were^  normal.  John  walked 
and  talked  very  early.  Never  any  convulsions.  At  about 
two  years  of  age  he  was  very  low  with  a  complication  of 
diseases.  He  was  sick  at  that  time  for  three  months.  Later 
he  was  operated  on  for  rupture.  The  trouble  with  his  eyes 
is  of  recent  origin.  When  he  was  a  young  boy  in  school  a 
teacher  once  told  her  she  did  not  consider  him  right  mentally. 

There  has  been  an  exceeding  amount  of  trouble  with 
this  boy.  He  was  a  great  truant  and  reached  only  the  4th 
grade.  When  he  was  living  with  the  uncle  he  caused  much 
trouble,  and  the  uncle  warned  her.  He  has  run  away  from 
home  twelve  times,  stays  away  perhaps  two  weeks  at  a  time, 
and  comes  home  ragged  and  filthy.  He  has  had  many  jobs, 
but  stays  only  a  day  or  two  at  work.  He  steals  in  petty 
ways,  takes  money  from  home  when  he  runs  away.  He  is 
very  lazy,  but  a  great  reader,  especially  of  cheap  novels. 

Among  the  troubles  with  this  boy  is  his  extremely  filthy 
talk.  He  has  even  lost  one  position  on  account  of  this. 
An  aunt  caught  the  boy  in  bad  sex  practices  several  years 
ago  and  told  the  mother.  Neighbors,  and  earlier  the  school 
people,  warned  the  mother  that  this  was  what  was  the  matter 
with  the  boy.  About  a  year  ago  John  was  found  in  a  room 
with  a  man  and  other  boys  engaged  in  bad  practices.  The 
man  was  sentenced  to  a  long  term  in  the  penitentiary  on 
account  of  it. 

Worst  of  all,  the  mother  says  the  boy  is  the  most  malicious 
liar  she  has  ever  heard  of.  They  have  had  a  frightful  time 
with  him  on  account  of  this.  For  over  two  years  John  has 
been  telling  bad  stories  about  the  step-father.  Recently 


194  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

he  could  not  stand  it  any  longer  and  left  the  mother.  He 
was  a  good  and  rather  strict  man  who  took  much  interest 
in  the  children.  He  tried  rewards  with  John,  but  this  was 
of  no  avail.  The  boy  has  destroyed  the  home  life,  but  she 
thought  it  her  duty  to  try  further  with  her  own  flesh  and 
blood.  The  sister  is  in  utter  despair  about  what  John  has 
said  concerning  her.  The  younger  brother  also  feels  great 
humiliation.  The  boy  has  told  his  worst  stories  about  them 
even  in  their  own  neighborhood. 

After  our  investigation  the  boy  was  sent  to  an  institution 
for  delinquents  where  he  could  have  the  best  of  treatment  for 
his  ailments.  The  report  from  there  after  a  few  months 
was  that  he  proved  to  be  an  exceedingly  weak  and  vacil- 
lating type.  He  was  notorious  for  being  a  boy  that  would 
do  anything  that  was  suggested  to  him.  An  outlook  was 
kept  for  signs  of  insanity,  but  none  was  noted. 

Over  three  years  later  we  hear  that  John's  character  lias 
not  shown  any  radical  change  as  demonstrated  by  his  mode 
of  living.  He  has  served  at  least  one  term  in  a  penal  insti- 
tution for  adults.  We  do  not  know  anything  further  about 
lying  or  false  accusations  in  the  case. 


Constitutional   inferiority:     Stigmata.  Case  17. 

Mentality.        Boy,  age  16. 
Heredity:  Father  epileptic. 

JVlaternal  aunt  insane. 
Masturbation  plus. 

Pervert  sex  experiences. 

Developmental:   Much  early  illness. 
Delinquencies :  Mentality : 

False  accusations  excessive.        Dull   from   physical 
Running  away  repeatedly.  causes  ( ?) . 

Stealing.  Beginning  psychosis  (  ?) . 

Sex  perversions.  Pathological  liar  (?). 

Vagrancy. 


CASES  OF  PATHOLOGICAL  ACCUSATION     195 

CASE  18 

Summary:  Little  girl  of  7  makes  false  charges  of  sex  assault 
against  boy  in  the  same  institution.  She  is  laterlound  to  be  an 
excessive  liar  and  to  steal. 

Causative  factors :  (a)  Atrociously  immoral  home  environment, 
(&)  early  sex  experiences,  (c)  local  irritation  fromjactive  gonor- 
rhea. 

This  case  illustrates  the  fact  that  a  young  girl,  who  has 
had  unfortunate  sex  experiences,  especially  if  her  mind  is 
kept  dwelling  on  sexual  subjects  through  bodily  irritation, 
is  apt  to  take  advantage  of  the  stir  which  she  knows  she  can 
make  by  her  statements,  and  glibly  make  false  accusations. 
The  case  offered  no  difficulties  for  study  and  can  be  pre- 
sented in  short  as  typical  of  a  number  of  similar  cases  seen 
by  us. 

We  were  asked  to  see  this  girl  a  few  days  after  she  had 
been  taken  from  very  bad  home  conditions  and  temporarily 
placed  in  a  good  institution  for  dependent  children.  While 
there  she  had  much  upset  the  high-minded  superintendent 
and  her  helpers  by  stating  that  an  older  boy  in  the  place 
had  sex  relations  with  her. 

She  was  a  small,  bright-eyed,  vivacious  child.  General 
physical  conditions  decidedly  good.  No  sensory  defect. 
WTell  shaped  head.  Weight  55  Ibs. ;  height  4  ft.  Active 
gonorrheal  vulvovaginitis. 

On  the  mental  side  we  found,  although  she  spoke  in  some- 
what broken  English,  an  ardent  conversationalist.  With 
her  many  ideas  about  many  subjects,  she  appeared  decidedly 
precocious.  We  noted  her  also  to  be  very  defiant  and  self- 
assertive,  and  her  tendency  to  lie  without  rhyme  or  reason 
was  soon  discovered.  Her  exact  age  never  was  ascertained, 
but  undoubtedly  it  was  about  7.  She  was  in  the  2d  grade. 
At  times  when  doing  the  Binet  tests  inhibitions  would  appear 
and  she  would  give  no  answer  at  all  even  to  some  easy  ques- 


196  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

tions.  Her  positive  responses  graded  her  as  6f  years,  but 
undoubtedly  she  could  have  done  much  better  had  she  so 
wished. 

In  her  talkative  way  she  used  English  very  graphically, 
but  with  curious  misuse  of  pronouns  and  a  few  other  words. 
Considering  the  fact  that  her  family  spoke  a  foreign  lan- 
guage at  home  and  she  had  been  but  a  short  time  in  school 
this  was  not  strange.  Her  lack  of  veracity  was  shown  even 
in  her  assertions  about  her  inability  to  understand  English. 
At  the  first  approach  she  denied  her  ability  to  do  so,  but  later 
showed  that  she  understood  very  well.  This  behavior  was 
of  a  piece  with  her  attitude  shown  in  doing  the  iBinet  tests. 

"Police  bringed  me.  Don't  know  why.  Cause  my 
father  run  away,  she  don't  want  to  stay  with  my  mother. 
My  father  Austrian.  Sometime  my  father  talk  Italian. 
Then  God  make  him  sick  cause  she  talk  Italian.  My  neck 
is  sick.  I  go  to  Italian  church  and  I  talk  Italian  and  God 
makes  me  sick. 

"They  bringed  me  home  to-day,  then  they  bringed  me 
back  here,  then  I  stay  here  all  along."  (What  is  the  matter 
with  you  ?)  "A  big  boy  —  up  in  school  —  upstairs  —  don't 
know  his  name.  I  came  Saturday.  She  came  Saturday. 
She  came  Sunday,  too.  When  we  come  to  listen  to  music 
then  she  gave  to  me  that  disease. 

"Papa  is  bad.  She  run  away.  She  run  away.  She  take 
from  my  mama  $12  —  all  the  clothes.  She  got  another 
lady.  Is  that  your  lady?  Why  do  you  write?  I  could 
write  better  than  you  because  I  go  to  school  all  the  time. 
I  never  take  money.  I  Catholic  and  Catholic  can't  tell 
lie.  Well,  I  going  to  tell  the  truth  now.  I  found  it  in  bed, 
in  paper  inside.  Then  I  give  it  to  teacher  and  then  I  give 
it  to  nurse.  I  never  tell  lies." 

Before  we  had  seen  her  this  child  had  given  some  sort  of 
description  of  a  big  boy  in  the  institution  who  she  said  had 


CASES  OF  PATHOLOGICAL  ACCUSATION    197 

assaulted  her.  There  was  no  such  person  there,  but  her 
vehement  statements  caused  much  disturbance.  Later 
she  denied  this  to  us  and  accused  somebody  at  her  own  home. 
She  came  from  miserable  environment,  as  may  be  surmised 
from  the  fact  that  her  father  was  a  deserter  and  probably 
immoral.  On  account  of  her  unreliability  nothing  could  be 
done  in  the  way  of  prosecuting  the  offender.  We  always 
felt  it  a  possibility  that  some  member  of  her  own  family 
was  guilty  and  that  was  the  reason  she  had  told^so  many 
different  tales  about  it.  An  owner  was  not  found  for  the 
money  which  she  had  stolen.  The  person  from  whom  she 
said  she  had  taken  it  had  not  lost  it.  She  took  it  under 
conditions  when  she  had  no  chance  to  spend  it.  Her  ex- 
cessive lying  was  a  continual  source  of  trouble  as  long  as 
she  was  kept  in  this  institution.  She  was  long  treated  in 
a  public  hospital  for  her  gonorrhea.  Since  then  she  has 
been  lost  track  of.  It  is  interesting  in  this  case  to  note  that 
the  child  maintained  that  she  belonged  to  a  church,  which 
made  it  impossible  for  her  to  tell  lies.  We  have  heard  almost 
exactly  this  same  assertion  on  numerous  occasions.  It  is 
clearly  made  by  way  of  affirmation  when  the  offender  covertly 
feels  the  need  of  bolstering  up  false  statements. 


Early  sex  experiences.  Case  18. 

Bad  companions.  Girl,  age  7. 

Physical  conditions:    Local  irritation. 

Home   conditions:  Father  immoral  and 

deserter. 

Heredity  (?) :    Father  as  above. 
Delinquencies :  Mentality : 

Stealing.  Fair  ability. 

Sex. 
Lying. 
False  accusations. 


198  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

CASE  19 

Summary:  Girl  of  18  made  accusations  to  officials  that  a 
lawyer  for  whom  she  worked  had  been  immoral  with  her.  About 
the  same  time  it  was  found  that  she  herself  had  been  stealing 
and  lying  about  other  matters.  Later,  when  there  was  reitera- 
tion of  the  charges,  a  physician's  examination  showed  that  she 
had  not  been  immoral.  Some  months  afterward  she  went  to 
other  officials  and  insisted  she  ought  to  go  to  a  reform  school. 
A  year  still  later  she  did  have  sex  experiences  and  contracted 
venereal  disease.  Her  succeeding  record  is  totally  different. 
For  several  years  now  she  has  been  a  young  woman  of  thoroughly 
good  character. 

In  its  progress,  after  extended  exhibition  of  exceedingly, 
erratic  conduct,  to  complete  stability  now  long  observed, 
this  case  is  of  considerable  interest.  It  was  after  some 
months  of  effort  on  the  case  by  experienced  social  workers 
that  we  were  asked  to  study  this  girl.  We  found  no  diffi- 
culty in  rapidly  becoming  intimately  acquainted  with  her 
conditions  and  troubles. 

Physically  she  was  a  normally  developed  young  woman 
of  distinctly  good  strength,  but  slouchy  attitude.  In  expres- 
sion rather  dull  and  pleasant ;  laughs  much  in  rather  childish 
way  for  her  age.  Weight,  110  Ibs. ;  height,  5  ft.  2j  in. 
No  sensory  defect.  Good  color. 

Mentally  we  gave  her  a  wide  variety  of  tests  with  the 
result,  in  general,  that  she  did  well  on  them.  She  had  left 
school  at  14  years  when  in  the  7th  grade,  but  had  not 
forgotten  what  she  had  learned.  Her  arithmetic  was  done 
very  well  indeed  and  she  wrote  a  very  good  hand.  The 
tests,  which  brought  her  abilities  in  many  directions  into 
play,  were  done  almost  uniformly  well.  Her  memory  pro- 
cesses were  distinctly  good  and  showed  her  capacity  by  her 
remembering  logical  connections  as  well  as  details.  Her 
casuistic  responses  which  were  asked  for  in  two  moral 
situations,  verbally  presented,  Test  XXI,  were  rather  vacil- 


CASES  OF  PATHOLOGICAL  ACCUSATION    199 

lating,  but  evidently  sound.  It  was  easy  for  her  to  appre- 
ciate the  intricacy  of  the  situation. 

On  the  "Aussage"  experiment,  Test  VI,  out  of  15  details 
given  as  remembered  from  the  picture  just  seen  two  were 
imaginary,  and  of  9  more  items  given  on  cross-examination 
two  were  erroneous.  Her  account  as  given  was  functional, 
not  at  all  enumerative  as  in  the  usual  childish  fashion.  Out 
of  6  suggestions  proffered  she  accepted  4.  This  was  a  poor 
result  for  a  person  of  her  age.  Her  range  of  information  was 
normal.  Her  interests  while  at  home  had  been  very  sim- 
ple ;  for  instance,  she  had  not  been  allowed  to  read  novels 
nor  go  to  theatres.  In  all  our  work  on  tests  and  in  our  sev- 
eral interviews  with  her  we  never  discovered  any  signs  of 
aberrational  tendencies.  Her  social  conduct  furnished  the 
only  evidence  of  erraticism. 

This  young  woman's  mother,  who  is  said  to  have  been  a 
normal  person,  died  a  few  months  before  we  knew  her 
daughter.  She  had  long  been  ill  and  consequently  had  had 
very  imperfect  control  over  her  daughter  all  through  ado- 
lescence. The  father  had  been  dead  for  several  years 
previously ;  he  was  a  storekeeper  in  a  small  way,  fairly  edu- 
cated and  non-alcoholic.  No  other  family  history  of  im- 
portance was  ever  forthcoming.  There  was  only  one  other 
child  in  the  family,  a  younger  brother,  who  was  quite  normal. 
Outside  of  bronchitis  during  infancy  it  was  said  this  girl 
had  never  had  any  serious  disease.  In  the  last  few  months 
there  had  been  much  complaint  about  suffering  at  the  men- 
strual period.  Menstruation  began  at  13  years  of  age  and 
was  said  to  have  been  regular  until  seven  months  or  so  prior 
to  the  time  when  we  first  saw  her.  However,  this  latter 
statement  was  made  by  the  girl  herself  and  at  this  stage 
her  word  was  not  particularly  reliable. 

When  we  began  study  of  this  case  we  were  put  in  posses- 
sion of  the  following  notes  made  by  an  unusually  competent 


200  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

social  worker,  extending  over  the  previous  nine  months.  At- 
tention was  first  drawn  to  her  when  she  was  living  with  some- 
one who  had  offered  to  give  her  a  home  while  her  mother  was 
mortally  ill  in  a  hospital.  She  then  had  clothing  and  trinkets 
the  possession  of  which  she  could  not  satisfactorily  explain. 
It  was  discovered  that  she  was  lying.  It  was  about  this 
time  that  the  girl  told  her  friends  that  she  had  been  immoral, 
and  accused  a  man  for  whom  she  had  worked  of  being  respon- 
sible for  her  downfall.  She  had  also  been  flirting  with  a 
married  man  who  had  been  talking  to  her  about  eloping 
with  him.  It  was  learned  that  she  stayed  all  one  night 
at  a  downtown  hotel,  but  probably  alone.  Further  investi- 
gation showed  she  had  stolen  a  considerable  sum  of  money 
from  an  acquaintance  and  also  a  watch.  Then  a  physical 
examination  was  made  and  a  certificate  given  that  the  girl 
had  not  been  immoral. 

Much  trouble  was  taken  about  the  case  in  the  ensuing 
year,  the  notes  naively  say,  "object  being  to  see  if  the  girl 
could  not  be  reclaimed."  She  was  given  an  unusually  good 
opportunity  with  a  sterling  family.  She  made  much  trouble 
for  them  and  others  who  were  interested  in  her.  Her  mother 
died  early  in  the  period.  On  a  number  of  occasions  she 
left  her  place  and  stayed  away  all  night,  sometimes  walking 
the  streets.  On  one  occasion  she  is  reported  to  have  gone 
to  a  certain  agency,  looking  as  if  she  had  been  recently  intoxi- 
cated, and  appealed  to  be  sent  to  a  reform  school.  She  was 
taken  in  by  the  police  on  one  occasion.  We  first  saw  her 
after  she  had  been  living  in  this  good  home  for  several 
months. 

At  the  same  time  we  studied  her  physical  and  mental 
conditions  we  attempted  to  make  some  analysis  of  her  self- 
orientation.  She*  maintained  then  that  her  main  trouble 
was  because  she  had  got  mixed  up  with  this  married  man. 
She  declared  he  threatened  her.  (This  was  very  likely  from 


CASES  OF  PATHOLOGICAL  ACCUSATION    201 

what  was  discovered  about  his  character.)  She  had  very 
good  words  for  the  officials  who  had  helped  her  so  much. 
She  told  us  how  she  had  stolen  a  matter  of  $100  or  so.  When 
we  questioned  her  about  her  early  accusations  she  said 
that  she  did  tell  a  lot  of  lies  when  her  case  first  was  looked 
into.  "I  thought  they  were  too  inquisitive.  I  thought 
if  I  told  them  a  few  lies  they  would  leave  me  alone.  Every- 
body has  to  know  everything.  I  forget  half  of  what  I'm 
to  say.  I  don't  know  why  I  stole  that  watch.  I  would 
have  brought  it  back  home  if  he  had  not  taken  it  on  me.  I 
never  told  anybody  that  I  wanted  to  go  to  the  reform  school. 
I  was  afraid  to  go  home  because  I  was  afraid  I  would  get  a 
good  scolding.  I  think  I  have  told  all  the  truth  to  the  officers 
since  the  first.  I  was  ashamed  to  tell  it,  that's  the  whole 
truth.  That's  the  truth,  there  was  no  one  with  me  this 
other  night.  I  did  not  meet  a  soul  I  knew.  I  went  out  to 
the  South  Park.  I  had  never  been  there  before.  Where 
I  have  been  living  they  would  not  let  me  go  out  anywhere. 
I  had  to  stay  there  Sundays  and  all  the  time.  When  I  got 
out  I  was  worse  than  a  wild  calf.  Maybe  if  I  went  out 
oftener  I  would  not  be  so  bad.  I  am  here  now  because 
I  went  to  the  police  station  and  told  them  I  would  not  go 
home.  It  was  late  and  I  was  afraid  to  go  home.  I  had 
stayed  out  on  the  street  all  night.  One  night  I  went  home 
and  it  was  all  dark  and  I  was  afraid  to  ring  and  I  stayed  on 
the  street  all  night.  I  was  on  the  street  all  the  next  day  too. 
I  went  to  the  cemetery.  Late  that  afternoon  I  met  a  young 
man  and  stayed  talking  to  him  and  a  detective  came  along 
and  told  us  we  shouldn't  stand  there.  I  never  did  anything 
bad  with  any  man.  I  never  said  so.  A  visiting  nurse  told 
me  the  dangers  of  life.  My  mother  told  me  I  should  be 
careful.  Oh,  I  worked  for  that  lawyer  before  my  mother 
died.  I  worked  for  him  about  two  weeks  and  he  did  not 
pay  me  what  he  owed  me.  No,  he  never  did  me  any  harm. 


202  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

A  man  came  along  with  a  lady  from  that  office  and  he  asked 
me  some  questions  and  I  was  so  scared  because  I  thought 
they  were  going  to  lock  me  up.  I  guess  that  was  the  ques- 
tion maybe  and  I  said,  yes,  but  I  did  not  know  just  what  it 
was." 

It  was  after  this  that  the  girl  gave  much  trouble  because 
of  queer  little  trickery  concerning  some  insurance  papers, 
and  about  losing  some  money.  Her  friends  wasted  much 
time  in  the  endeavor  to  get  these  matters  adjusted.  The 
family  she  was  with  thought  she  was  very  childish  for  her 
age. 

Our  opinion  as  dictated  at  this  time  was  that  the  girl 
was  physically  and  mentally  all  right,  but  that  she  showed 
a  decidedly  childish  reaction  towards  the  world  and  was 
very  suggestible  and  unreliable.  We  knew  many  more 
facts  about  her  which  proved  these  points.  Our  judgment 
set  down  was  that  she  was  an  unstable  adolescent  with  pos- 
sibility of  showing  very  different  characteristics  inside  of 
a  year  or  two.  We  noted  she  had  a  weak  type  of  face. 

She  was  seen  four  months  later,  after  a  period  of  having 
run  away  twice  for  several  days  at  a  time.  On  inquiry  she 
maintains  she  was  impelled  to  do  it  by  her  own  feelings  of 
restlessness  and  general  dissatisfaction.  She  thought  the 
people  with  whom  she  lived  were  very  nice  and  only  strict 
as  they  should  be.  There  was  some  question  raised  about 
this  time  about  the  periodicity  of  her  impulsions,  but  except 
for  her  own  statement  that  it  was  just  before  her  menstrual 
time,  nothing  definite  was  proved.  On  the  last  occasion 
she  did  pick  up  with  a  young  man  and  was  immoral  with 
him.  She  stayed  out  in  a  hallway  all  night.  A  venereal 
disease  was  then  acquired.  This  was  speedily  treated  in  a 
hospital  and  the  girl  was  found  another  place.  Three  years 
have  elapsed,  and  during  the  time  this  girl  has  continued 
under  the  observation  of  one  of  her  old  friends.  She  has 


CASES  OF  PATHOLOGICAL  ACCUSATION    203 

remained  steady  and  trustworthy,  and  shows  no  tendency 
whatever  towards  untruthfulness  or  evasiveness.  She  has 
lived  in  one  good  home  for  two  years  and  the  people  are 
deeply  attached  to  her. 


Adolescent  impulses:   Lack  of  self-control.         Case  19. 
Sex  temptations,  resisted.  Girl,  age  18. 

Lack  of  parental  care. 

Deficient  interests:   Both   mental  and  re- 
creational. 

Delinquencies :  Mentality : 

False  accusations.  Good  ability. 

Stealing. 
General  lying. 
Staying  away  from  home. 


CASE  20 

Summary:  A  girl  of  almost  16  years,  of  attractive  and  innocent 
appearance,  alleged  that  she  had  been  leading  an  immoral  life 
and  frequenting  houses  of  assignation.  She  told  the  story  to  the 
people  of  her  church,  who  were  naturally  horrified  and  demanded 
a  thorough  investigation  of  the  social  vice  problems  involved. 
This  was  undertaken  by  the  police  authorities,  but  they  failed 
to  get  any  satisfactory  evidence  from  the  girl.  It  was  later  found 
that  the  story  was  all  a  myth  and  the  girl  had  not  been  in  the 
least  immoral.  Her  first  statements  followed  directly  after  her 
attendance  at  an  emotional  revival  meeting  where  these  topics 
had  been  preached  about.  Afterward  this  girl  was  in  court 
many  times  for  various  reasons.  She  is  a  mild  psychoneurotic 
type,  exhibiting  under  stress  unusual  mental  phenomena. 
She  and  her  family  have  created  an  astonishing  amount  of 
trouble  in  law  courts  as  both  defendants  and  complainants, 
because  their  peculiar  unreliabilities  have  not  been  understood. 

This  case  has  long  been  under  observation  and  we  have 
much  information  concerning  it.  It  was  found  difficult 


204  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

to  understand  by  pastors  and  others  who  had  given  consider- 
able attention  to  various  aspects  of  it.  Annie  F.  was  first 
seen  by  us  when  under  custody  because  of  her  own  statement 
that  she  had  been  leading  an  immoral  life.  We  have  seen 
her  and  members  of  her  family  many  times  since.  The 
account  of  the  case  can  best  be  given,  not  by  commencing 
with  the  cross-section  study  as  obtained  at  first,  but  by 
going  at  once  into  its  whole  connections  and  evolution. 
At  first  it  was  merely  learned  that  we  had  to  do  with  an 
unstable,  adolescent  girl  who  had  engaged  for  apparently 
no  purpose  whatever  in  false  self-accusations  which  would 
naturally  blight  her  career. 

On  the  physical  side  we  found  a  rather  slight  girl,  however, 
of  normal  development.  Weight  102  Ibs. ;  height  5  ft.  3  in. 
No  organic  defect  was  ever  discovered.  Neurological  ex- 
amination showed  as  follows :  No  tremors.  Tendon  reflexes 
normal.  Conjunctival  and  palatal  reflexes  absent.  The 
sense  of  pain  to  pin  pricks  was  almost  nil  on  the  arms,  and 
diminished  on  the  face.  Strength  poor  in  the  arms  even 
when  there  was  evidently  great  effort  made.  (Several 
of  these  functional  findings,  however,  have  varied  from  time 
to  time  in  the  ensuing  years.)  '  Hearing  normal.  Ocular 
examination  showed  hypermetropia  1.5  D.  R.  and  L.  with 
marked  astigmatism.  Fields  and  color  vision  normal.  Left 
pupil  about  twice  the  size  of  the  right.  (A  competent 
oculist  could  find  no  evidence  of  organic  affection  of  the 
nervous  system  correlated  with  this.)  Shape  of  head  normal. 
Bowels  regular.  Appetite  capricious.  When  first  seen 
was  anemic,  but  later  color  was  very  good.  Temperature 
was  taken  regularly,  but  no  significant  observations  made. 
Petite,  pretty  features,  and  unusually  beautiful  eyes.  Com- 
plaint of  frontal  dull  headaches,  soreness  of  scalp,  cold  hands 
and  pain  "about  the  heart."  Menstruated  at  15  years, 
then  much  irregularity  for  two  years.  Several  badly  cari- 


CASES  OF  PATHOLOGICAL  ACCUSATION    205 

ous  teeth  and  great  crowding  in  a  narrow  upper  dental 
arch. 

This  girl  was  several  times  observed  during  a  period 
of  about  5  years.  She  developed  into  an  unusually  attrac- 
tive young  woman,  showing  at  times  various  mild  nervous 
disturbances  as  well  as  character  difficulties.  Only  occa- 
sionally has  she  worn  the  glasses  which  corrected  her  errors 
of  refraction.  During  this  time  she  has  not  been  severely 
ill.  She  has  a  palpable  thyroid  which  has  hardly  increased 
in  size.  When  last  seen  she  was  notable  for  a  very  clear 
skin,  good  color,  and  bright  eyes.  Conjunctival  and  corneal 
reflexes  much  diminished.  Palatopharyngeal  reflexes  quite 
absent.  The  headaches  are  said  to  have  persisted  during 
all  the  time  we  have  known  her. 

We  have  repeatedly  attempted  to  summarize  the  mental 
status  and  functionings  of  this  young  woman,  but  our 
findings  on  tests  and  otherwise  have  been  irregular  and 
diverse.  She  reached  6th  grade  at  14  years,  but  had  been 
absent  much  on  account  of  sickness.  When  first  seen  we 
found  that  she  was  already  fond  of  Lytton,  Scott,  and 
Dickens,  and  that  she  was  a  great  reader  of  the  daily  news- 
papers, dwelling  much  on  accidents  and  tragedies.  What 
we  say  about  her  ability  must  be  based  upon  the  best  that 
she  has  demonstrated.  Often  when  seen  she  has  been  in 
some  mental  state  which  has  prevented  her  from  doing,  or 
being  willing  to  do,  the  best  that  is  in  her.  She  writes  a 
good  hand,  does  long  division  promptly,  and  reads  well. 
Her  association  and  memory  processes  have  been  proved 
normal,  but  given  a  task  to  do  she  is  prone  to  show  inhibitory 
pauses  and  other  phenomena  which  interfere  much  with  a 
satisfactory  result.  She  has  some  little  reputation  of  being 
able  to  give  long,  almost  verbatim  accounts  of  sermons 
which  she  has  heard,  but  the  auracccy  of  her  report  we  have 
not  been  able  to  verify.  She  gave  the  antonyms  of  twenty 


206  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

words  in  average  time  of  1.4",  which  is  a  good  record. 
There  was  one  failure,  but  that  was  quite  typical.  At  the 
end  of  20",  which  is  beyond  the  time  of  failure,  she  gave 
"unhappy"  as  the  opposite  of  "happy,"  adding  that  she 
had  thought  of  that  before,  only  she  did  not  speak  it  out. 
Her  tests  for  psychomotor  control  were  miserably  done. 
She  was  rapid  in  movement,  but  absolutely  inaccurate  and 
did  not  follow  instructions.  However,  we  felt  that  even 
this  did  not  indicate  her  full  ability,  for  she  had  capably 
held  a  position  in  a  millinery  establishment  where  she  was 
required  to  show  manipulative  dexterity.  Perhaps  the  best 
statement  of  her  performances  is  that  she  demonstrated 
great  irregularities  from  time  to  time,  and  even  at  the  same 
examination  in  her  work  on  different  tests. 

On  account  of  her  peculiar  testimony  against  herself,  her 
memory  processes  and  especially  her  performance  on  the 
"Aussage"  test  the  case  seemed  of  great  interest.  We 
found,  as  we  stated  above,  in  various  ways  that  her  abilities 
to  remember,  when  at  her  best,  were  normal,  but  using  the 
"Aussage"  picture  we  obtained  only  6  details  in  free  recital ; 
she  was  sure  that  was  all  she  saw  in  the  picture.  Then  on  ' 
cross-questioning  she  mentioned  9  more  items  correctly, 
and  gave  8  others  much  altered  from  the  truth.  No  other 
item  was  added,  but  her  report  on  these  was  almost  illu- 
sional  in  its  incorrectness.  Of  5  suggestions  offered  she 
accepted  2  of  the  least  important,  refusing  the  others  en- 
tirely. This  was  a  remarkably  poor  result  for  a  girl  of  her 
age,  but  may  not  be  indicative  of  her  best  abilities  even  on 
this  type  of  work.  Our  final  opinion  was  that  she  was  not 
clearly  subnormal  in  native  ability. 

Annie  has  grown  somewhat  more  stable  as  the  years  have 
gone  on.  Following  our  first  acquaintance  with  her  we  have 
known  this  girl  to  make  serious  false  accusations  against 
others  (vide  infra)  and  to  again  damage  her  own  reputation 


CASES  OF  PATHOLOGICAL  ACCUSATION    207 

by  alleging  herself  to  be  pregnant  when  she  was  not.  Her 
word  in  other  matters  all  along  has  been  found  somewhat 
unreliable,  but  there  has  been  no  extensive  weaving  of  ro- 
mances such  as  those  indulged  in  by  typical  pathological 
liars.  Our  original  diagnosis  of  this  as  a  case  of  pathological 
accusation  upon  the  basis  of  mild  hysteria  we  have  seen  no 
reason  to  change.  Both  Annie  and  other  members  of  her 
family  are  representatives  of  a  most  important  type  for  court 
officials  and  all  other  social  workers  to  understand.  A  great 
deal  of  trouble  has  been  caused  in  several  religious  congre- 
gations by  the  unusual  character  of  the  behavior  of  these 
people.  Also  the  number  of  times  they  have  been  in  courts 
for  various  reasons  is  astonishing. 

The  history  of  physical  and  mental  development  merges 
closely  with  the  story  of  evolution  in  the  moral  sphere,  and 
all  can  be  given  together.  On  account  of  the  mother  having 
long  been  dead  and  the  father  being  the  peculiar  man  that 
he  is  there  is  some  question  about  the  truth  of  some  of  the 
details  which  have  been  given  us,  but  we  have  reason  to 
believe  that  the  main  facts  are  true  because  they  have  been 
held  to  be  the  truth  in  the  family  circle  generally  and  were 
not  merely  given  to  us.  Verification  of  details  would  be 
very  difficult  because  the  family  are  distributed  between 
Europe  and  America,  and  no  relatives  outside  the  immediate 
family  are  at  hand.  The  mother  was  in  excessively  poor 
condition  at  the  birth  of  Annie.  She  had  miscarriages 
preceding  and  following.  It  is  stated  that  the  diagnosis  of 
malaria  was  made  and  that  the  mother  had  convulsions  both 
before  and  after  confinement.  At  the  birth  the  prolonged 
labor  and  instrumentation  were  not  known  to  have  done 
any  damage.  As  an  infant  Annie  is  said  to  have  been  frail, 
but  not  to  have  had  any  definite  sickness  or  any  convulsions. 

However,  at  about  Annie's  fifth  year  there  began  a  long 
list  of  illnesses.  She  had  scarlet  fever  severely  and  also  a 


208  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

number  of  other  children's  diseases.  At  8  years  she  had  an 
attack  of  muscular  jerking,  and  then  had  a  number  of  suc- 
cessive attacks  until  she  was  14  years.  At  one  time  she  was 
in  a  public  hospital  for  three  weeks  on  account  of  this.  It  was 
stated  that  this  was  chorea,  but  of  course  we  can  not  be  sure 
on  this  point.  Annie  was  always  regarded  as  a  very  nervous 
child;  she  was  frequently  a  somnambulist  until  she  was 
about  12.  She  is  very  nervous  before  the  onset  of  menstrua- 
tion. Of  recent  years  she  has  been  an  excessive  user  of  tea  - 
at  times  before  we  first  saw  her  she  is  said  to  have  had  12 
cups  of  tea  in  a  day.  At  times  she  was  then  suffering  from 
sleeplessness,  and  was  wont  to  feel  tired  in  the  morning. 
As  a  young  child  she  had  severe  night  fears,  seeing  terrifying 
shadows  upon  the  wall. 

On  account  of  her  illnesses  and  her  general  nervous  con- 
dition, Annie  was  very  irregular  in  her  school  attendance. 
However,  she  reached  6th  grade.  As  to  the  family  opinion 
of  her  mentality  we  hear  that  they  have  regarded  her  as 
being  an  odd  type,  not  lazy,  but  irritable,  hateful,  and  moody 
by  spells.  Her  memory  is  said  to  be  most  irregular,  some- 
times exceedingly  good.  The  other  children  find  it  difficult 
to  get  along  with  her  because  she  slaps  them  so  much.  At 
times  she  swears.  At  the  time  of  the  revival  meeting,  shortly 
before  we  saw  her,  she  is  said  to  have  come  home  from  church 
in  an  hysterical  state.  When  in  custody  she  was  in  rather 
a  dazed  condition.  Where  she  was  detained  they  say  she 
acted  as  if  she  were  stunned.  Her  memory  did  not  seem  at 
all  clear,  nor  has  it  ever  seemed  other  than  confused  about 
the  events  immediately  surrounding  the  main  episode  of  her 
career.  She  maintained  she  could  not  remember  just  exactly 
what  she  had  said,  and  her  account  of  it  contradicted  that 
of  her  father. 

As  we  afterwards  learned  from  the  church  people,  it  is 
undoubtedly  a  fact  that  her  notions  of  self-accusation  caine 


CASES  OF  PATHOLOGICAL  ACCUSATION    209 

from  a  Sunday  School  session  in  which  her  teacher  repeated 
what  had  been  talked  about  in  the  revival  meeting  concern- 
ing the  scarlet  woman.  A  day  or  two  afterward  the  girl 
told  that  she  herself  was  "a  scarlet  woman."  She  told  it 
first  to  the  teacher,  was  then  taken  to  the  pastor,  when 
she  reiterated  the  story,  and  the  police  authorities  were 
called  in.  Of  course  her  story  implied  lack  of  home  guardian- 
ship and  consequently  the  whole  affair  was  handled  for  some 
days  by  the  police  alone,  after  the  girl  had  given  a  very  de- 
tailed description  of  her  immoral  life.  By  the  time  we  saw 
the  father  it  had  been  ascertained  that  this  girl  had  never 
been  away  from  home  a  single  night  in  her  life  and  probably 
had  never  been  in  the  least  immoral  sexually. 

It  is  necessary  to  have  knowledge  of  the  heredity  and  envi- 
ronmental background  to  understand  this  case.  Almost  noth- 
ing is  known  of  the  maternal  family.  After  losing  his  first 
wife,  the  father  was  twice  remarried,  and  even  the  third  wife 
has  divorced  him.  He  had  a  brother  who,  after  going  insane 
and  killing  two  laborers,  committed  suicide.  His  grandmother, 
and  probably  also  a  cousin,  were  insane.  Two  of  his  sisters 
were  of  a  nervous  and  hysterical  type  and  said  to  have  at- 
tacks of  aphonia.  A  child  by  his  second  wife  is  epileptic. 
This  man  gives  us  a  long  account  of  his  own  defective  heredity 
and  of  his  own  physical  ailments.  He  does  not  recognize 
the  fact,  however,  that  he  also  is  mentally  below  par.  We 
have  seen  him  on  numerous  occasions  and  known  of  his 
great  activity  in  the  courts,  and  have  attempted  to  size  him 
up.  He  is  undoubtedly  a  constitutional  inferior,  in  poor 
general  physical  condition  and  subject  to  episodic  mental 
states.  One  would  be  inclined  to  call  him  a  semi-responsible 
individual  with  mild  delusions,  defective  reasoning  ability, 
great  energy  in  self-assertion,  and  of  combative  disposition. 
This  latter  shows  itself  in  his  voluble  emphasis  on  the  alleged 
ill  treatment  of  himself  and  family,  even  by  his  wives.  He 


210  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

is  never  physically  violent.  On  account  of  false  accusations, 
whether  delusional  or  not,  he  got  at  least  one  pastor  into  a 
peck  of  trouble,  and,  strangely  enough,  his  wives  have  been 
involved  in  some  other  church  embroilments  when  his  own 
character  was  called  severely  into  question.  On  one  occa- 
sion we  were  interested  to  enumerate  an  astonishing  list 
of  people  and  organizations  which,  he  stated,  had  treated 
him  and  his  family  unfairly.  It  seemed  to  us  that  during 
the  last  two  or  three  years  he  must  largely  have  lived  in  the 
courts  to  carry  on  his  transactions  there.  His  concern  for 
his  daughter  seemed  genuine  and  her  delinquency  led  him 
to  seek  the  law  more  than  ever.  Some  of  the  good  people 
who  have  become  interested  in  his  affairs  tell  us  that  his  is 
the  strangest  story  they  have  ever  heard.  His  veracity 
is  often  in  question.  On  more  than  one  occasion  with 
us  he  has  dwelled  on  his  nervous  states,  and  on  the  fact 
that  he  is  subject  to  times  of  mental  confusion,  but  he 
defends  his  own  judgment  and  actions  on  all  occasions  with 
great  vigor. 

This  most  erratic  father  has  nearly  always  sided  with 
Annie  and  offered  excuses  for  her  under  all  circumstances. 
However,  she  has  stated  that  he  was  most  difficult  to 
live  with  on  account  of  his  quarreling  at  home  and  general 
bad  management  of  the  household.  We  know  that  at 
times  he  has  been  a  seeker  of  newspaper  notoriety.  From 
his  conversations  with  us  and  with  others  we  know  that 
his  mind  dwells  much  on  sex  affairs  and  these  things  are 
frequently  discussed  in  the  home.  There  has  been  much 
turmoil  and  quarreling  in  the  family  circle,  at  least  with  the 
last  two  wives.  On  several  occasions  the  family  have  had 
to  appeal  for  aid  from  the  charities  because  none  of  them 
succeeded  in  making  a  living.  Annie  alleged  she  was  taught 
shop-lifting  by  the  second  wife  —  we  regard  this  as  In  i 
possibly  true  on  account  of  the  woman's  general  reputation, 


CASES  OF  PATHOLOGICAL  ACCUSATION 

the  fact  that  they  were  desperately  poor,  and  that  she  drank 
at  times. 

The  father  has  the  ability  to  make  a  very  good  presentation 
of  himself,  to  use  the  best  of  language  and  he  has  had  musical 
training  enough  to  be  able  to  give  lessons.  Annie  herself 
has  taken  many  lessons  in  music. 

The  after-history  of  this  case  is  instructive.  Almost  none 
of  our  suggestions  were  taken  when  our  first  diagnosis  was 
made.  Two  years  after  we  first  saw  Annie  she  was  placed 
in  an  institution  for  delinquents,  then  having  run  away  from 
home,  "  picked  up  "  a  man  on  the  street  and  stayed  all  night 
in  a  hotel  with  him.  At  the  institution  the  girl  became  very 
nervous  and  behaved  badly  and  the  authorities  decided  it 
was  a  poor  place  for  her.  The  father,  who  at  first  wanted 
her  placed  there,  very  soon  decided  that  she  should  be  re- 
moved. It  is  very  likely  his  attitude  had  something  to  do 
with  her  behavior  there. 

About  this  time  Annie  worked  in  a  millinery  shop  where 
she  proved  herself  quick  and  skilful.  There  she  told  stories 
again  defaming  herself.  She  said  she  had  had  a  baby  and 
went  into  complete  details,  such  as  giving  the  name  of  the 
nurse  who  had  taken  care  of  her,  and  so  on.  On  account  of 
this  she  was  discharged.  Later  she  told  us  she  related  these 
stories  to  get  even  with  her  father,  for  if  there  was  ever  a 
hell  on  earth  it  was  living  with  him. 

About  three  years  after  our  first  study  of  Annie,  the  father 
himself  brought  a  complaint  against  her  of  untruthfulness 
and  general  unreliability.  This  was  at  one  of  the  times 
when  he  was  complaining  bitterly  of  other  people.  It  seems 
he  had  lately  tried  to  restrain  her  from  leaving  the  house 
and  she  had  cut  his  head  open  with  an  umbrella.  It  was 
evident  she  had  started  downhill  again,  and  she  was  placed 
in  a  Rescue  Home.  She  now  repeatedly  told  people  she  was 
pregnant  and  made  charges  against  some  man,  but  these 


PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

soon  fell  through  because  a  little  detective  work  showed  she 
was  corresponding  with  a  boy  and  had  very  likely  been  im- 
moral with  him  and  others.  She  was  then  making  an  at- 
tempt to  lead  a  dual  life,  maintaining  she  wanted  to  save 
some  of  the  unfortunates  with  whom  she  was  placed,  while 
at  the  same  time  entering  into  various  escapades  with  them 
and  others.  At  this  period  a  suicidal  attempt  was  reported, 
but  we  never  had  satisfactory  proof  of  the  genuineness  of 
this.  Annie  was  now  regarded  as  being  excessively  delin- 
quent. 

A  few  months  afterwards,  when  the  young  woman  was  in 
one  of  her  better  moods  and  wished  to  do  well,  we  made  a 
few  vocational  tests  on  her.  We  found  her  quite  unfit  for 
the  position  of  telephone  operator  which  had  been  suggested 
for  her.  Psychomotor  control  appeared  then  decidedly 
defective.  However,  there  was  great  improvement  on  work 
done  on  intellectual  tests  two  or  three  years  previously. 
Although  she  had  developed  physically  (she  now  was  a  par- 
ticularly good  looking  young  woman)  we  felt  she  was  quite 
unfit  for  work  which  demanded  steady  effort.  One  trouMe 
all  along  was  the  fact  that  she  did  not  wear  her  glasses.  We 
advised  then,  as  we  had  advised  at  first,  a  quiet  country  life 
for  Annie  and  the  other  members  of  the  family.  The  con- 
stant stimulus  of  city  conditions  was  too  much  for  them. 

Again  our  advice  was  not  taken  and  some  months  later 
the  father  came  to  us  with  the  story  of  extreme  poverty,  some 
recent  attacks  of  unconsciousness  on  his  part,  separation 
from  his  third  wife,  and  the  information  that  Annie  was 
about  to  become  a  chorus  girl. 

Even  a  final  consideration  of  the  general  diagnosis  in  this 
case  which  has  been  so  long  observed  by  us  does  not  seem  to 
justify  our  including  it  among  our  border-line  mental  typos. 
Application  of  the  term  constitutional  inferiority  seems  a 
priori  warranted  by  the  family  history  and  yet  we  have  no 


CASES  OF  PATHOLOGICAL  ACCUSATION    213 

proof  that  her  physical  and  mental  conditions  as  enumerated 
above  are  not  the  result  of  her  many  early  illnesses  and  the 
excessively  erratic  environmental  conditions,  rather  than  of 
causes  which  existed  at  birth. 

On  account  of  the  peculiar  inhibitory  phases  which  arose 
nearly  always  during  observation,  we  never  relied  merely 
on  the  results  of  laboratory  tests  for  our  judgment,  and  her 
success  in  some  social  situations  has  proved  the  wisdom  of 
this.  Our  earliest  feeling  that  we  had  to  do  with  a  temporary 
and  mild  psychosis  was  perhaps  justified,  but  further  obser- 
vation of  her  has  led  us  to  see  clearly  that  she  is  not  to  be 
considered  as  a  deeply  aberrational  type.  Could  she  ever 
have  been  free  from  the  extraordinarily  upsetting  home 
conditions  one  could  have  gauged  much  more  accurately 
her  mental  capabilities.  As  time  went  on,  the  moral  diffi- 
culties, which  were  largely  induced  by  family  conditions,  led 
to  mental  as  well  as  moral  upsets  which  could  be  considered 
as  little  else  than  normal  reactions  to  the  situation.  Her 
conduct  lapses,  under  the  circumstances,  are  no  indication  of 
any  mental  breakdown.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  clear  by  our 
own  examinations  and  the  accounts  of  other  observers  that 
she  gradually  has  showed  greater  mental  stability. 

(Since  writing  the  above,  we  have  had,  by  chance,  the 
opportunity  of  getting  some  important  information  about 
this  case  from  an  entirely  new  source.  A  person  who  knew 
the  family  many  years  ago  corroborates  the  father's  remark- 
able story  of  antecedents.  The  father  himself  remains  in 
about  the  same  state  of  social  incapacity.  Annie,  now 
married  to  a  young  man  with  a  long  criminal  record,  has 
a  child.  Her  word  has  recently  been  found  absolutely 
unreliable,  and  testimony  lately  given  by  her  in  court 
concerning  her  husband  was  grossly  false  when  it  would  seem 
that  her  interests  and  welfare  demanded  her  testifying  the 
truth  concerning  his  non-support.) 


214  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 


Mentality:  Psychoneurotic.  Case  20. 

Heredity:  Extremely  defective.  Girl,  age  16. 

Developmental  conditions:  Defective  antenatal 
conditions.  Difficult  birth.  Earlier  neu- 
rosis. 

Physical   conditions:  Earlier  dental  defects. 
Defective  vision,  usually  unconnected. 
Stigmata  of  eyes. 
Stimulants:  Excessive  use  of  tea. 

Home    conditions:     Highly  erratic 
and    unstable.      Many  bad 
influences  there. 
Excitement     and    suggestion 

from  revival. 
Delinquencies :  Mentality : 

Self-accusations.  Abilities  irregular, 

Running  away.  and  as  above. 

Sex  affairs. 


CASE  21 

Summary:  This  case  illustrates  the  fact  that  pathological 
lying  and  accusation  may  arise  first  during  a  period  of  special 
stress.  A  young  woman  of  19,  after  illegitimately  becoming 
pregnant,  was  found  home  after  home  by  a  charitable  organiza- 
tion. In  each  place  she  made  false  accusations  of  immoral 
proposals  against  some  one  in  the  family  or  neighborhood. 
This  created  much  trouble  and  lost  her  several  good  homes. 
Her  lies  persisted  after  an  abortion  had  been  secretly  produced, 
but  it  is  to  be  noted  that  she  now,  as  a  sequel  to  the  operation, 
suffered  from  irritative  pelvic  conditions. 

A  short  statement  of  this  case  will  suffice  to  bring  out 
the  point  that  during  a  period  of  social  and  mental  upset 
pathological  lying  and  accusation  may  be  first  indulged  in. 
We  studied  the  case  of  a  young  woman  of  19  who  had  been 
the  source  of  much  trouble  in  a  certain  locality  on  account  of 
her  false  accusations.  She  was  taken  in  hand  by  a  chari- 
table organization  and  found  a  home,  after  she  had  become 


CASES  OF  PATHOLOGICAL  ACCUSATION    215 

pregnant  at  a  wedding  feast  where  alcoholic  stimulants 
flowed  freely.  There  was  then  no  one  to  look  after  her  but 
an  invalid  father.  She  was  placed  with  an  estimable  family. 
In  a  short  time  she  made  the  shocking  announcement  to  the 
wife,  and  to  others,  that  the  husband  had  made  immoral 
advances  to  her.  He  was  a  man  of  excellent  character  and 
of  course  this  could  not  be  believed.  She  was  then  placed 
on  a  farm,  where  she  showed  erotic  tendencies  and  insisted 
that  one  of  the  helpers  about  the  place  wanted  to  take  liber- 
ties with  her.  She  was  observed  flirting  and  making  advances 
to  thrashers  and  others.  She  had  to  be  found  a  new  home, 
and  this  time  it  was  in  a  city,  where  new  accusations  were 
made  against  a  delivery  boy.  After  this  the  young  woman 
made  off  and  shifted  for  herself  for  a  time,  and  succeeded  in 
getting  some  shady  character  to  produce  an  abortion  on  her. 
Later,  she  again  came  to  the  official  attention  of  the  social 
agency  by  reason  of  making  new  accusations.  From  the 
date  of  her  impregnation  to  the  time  we  first  studied  her,  a 
period  of  about  10  months,  she  had  made  serious  accusations 
against  many.  When  her  lies  were  told  in  a  new  environ- 
ment they,  of  course,  always  made  new  trouble.  Each  time, 
however,  the  girl  herself  was  the  loser.  Her  real  partner 
at  the  wedding  feast  had  early  deposited  several  hundred 
dollars  for  the  expected  infant. 

We  found  a  strong,  normally  developed  young  woman  of 
rather  attractive  appearance  for  the  grade  in  society  from 
which  she  came.  No  sensory  defect.  Diseased  tonsils. 
Complained  of  constant  suffering  from  pelvic  conditions, 
perhaps  induced  by  the  abortion.  However,  being  such  a 
strong  type  she  has  been  able  to  get  about  well  and  do  her 
daily  work.  When  we  saw  her  she  was  employed  in  a  fac- 
tory. 

The  question  put  to  us  was  concerning  her  mentality.  She 
came  of  a  Slavic  peasant  family,  had  been  in  this  country 


216  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

only  6  years,  and  her  relatives  spoke  only  Slavic.  She  had 
been  to  school  but  a  very  short  time,  either  in  the  old  country 
or  here.  Because  of  the  language  difficulty,  the  giving  of 
many  tests,  such  as  those  in  the  upper  years  of  the  Binet 
system,  could  be  regarded  as  most  unfair.  However,  the 
simpler  language  tests  she  did  fairly  well,  especially  those 
where  she  could  understand  the  commonsense  questions. 
In  regard  to  her  acquirement  of  English,  she  has  done  better 
than  her  relatives,  who  continue  to  live  in  a  neighborhood 
where  their  own  Slavic  dialect  is  spoken.  When  it  came  to 
dealing  reasoningly  with  concrete  situations,  such  as  those 
presented  by  our  performance  tests,  this  young  woman  did 
comparatively  well  —  quite  above  the  grade  of  the  feeble- 
minded. Our  diagnosis,  then,  was  that  she  could  best  be 
regarded  as  poor  in  ability  or  possibly  subnormal  as  compared 
with  our  general  population,  but  as  correlated  with  her  peas- 
ant type  she  was  probably  normal. 

From  the  standpoint  of  aberration  one  could  find  no  evi- 
dences of  anything  but  eroticism  and  a  constant  tendency  to 
deviate  from  the  truth.  About  the  affair  of  the  abortion 
she  showed  herself  unexpectedly  shrewd,  maintaining  that 
she  had  had  to  work  very  hard  carrying  stones  when  a  new 
silo  was  being  built  on  the  farm,  and  at  her  next  menstrual 
period  she  had  flowed  for  a  week  or  so,  and  that  was  all  there 
was  to  it,  except  that  she  had  been  suffering  from  pains  con- 
tinually since.  (The  charitable  organization  knew  she  had 
visited  the  office  of  a  notorious  abortionist.)  She  smiled 
much  in  a  silly  way  when  in  the  company  of  men  ;  she  proved 
herself  easily  led.  Taking  it  altogether,  there  was  no  reason 
for  considering  her  insane,  or  as  being  hi  any  way  a  psycho- 
pathic personality.  She  showed  no  stigmata  of  degeneracy. 

There  was  no  opportunity  to  get  a  satisfactory  family 
history.  Many  of  the  relatives  were  still  in  the  old  country. 
A  sister  and  brothers  have  been  known  in  the  neighborhood 


CASES  OF  PATHOLOGICAL  ACCUSATION    217 

where  this  girl  lived,  and  are  said  to  appear  quite  normal 
in  their  simple  ways  of  living.  They  are  of  the  peasant 
type  and  good  laborers,  but  given  to  occasional  indulgence 
in  feasting  with  alcoholic  embellishments.  From  the  sister 
we  learned  that  this  girl  had  passed  through  a  sickly  child- 
hood and  had  been  most  irregularly  brought  up  on  account 
of  the  illnesses  of  her  mother.  She  was  not  known  as  a 
liar  when  younger.  Her  short  school  record  showed  nothing 
of  value  for  diagnosis.  What  happened  to  this  girl  was  no 
great  exception;  among  these  people,  we  know  from  their 
own  accounts,  free  and  easy  sex  relationships  are  common. 
We  are  advised  that  it  was  long  ago  known  that  this  girl 
was  going  with  bad  companions. 

In  this  case  we  advised  gynecological  and  other  medical 
treatment  and  segregation  in  a  reformatory  or  industrial 
school.  The  young  woman  could  be  regarded  as  nothing 
else  than  a  dangerous  person  in  any  community.  Even 
when  being  brought  to  us  she  had  endeavored  to  flirt  with  a 
conductor  on  the  train.  A  fair  diagnosis  could  only  be  that 
she  was,  for  the  present  at  least,  morally  irresponsible. 

This  case  has  been  only  recently  studied  and  no  further 
report  can  be  given.  It  is  cited  in  illustration  of  the  fact 
that  was  not  clearly  brought  out  by  our  other  cases,  namely, 
that  a  period  of  stress  may  be  very  definitely  the  exciting 
factor  in  developing  pathological  lying  and  accusation.  This 
stands  out  particularly  clearly  in  this  case  because  the 
young  woman  had,  prior  to  the  wedding  feast,  been  a  good 
worker  and  had  given  no  trouble  in  the  community. 


CHAPTER  V 

CASES  OF  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING   IN   BORDER- 
LINE MENTAL  TYPES 

WE  could  load  our  pages  with  histories  of  cases 
where  the  statement  of  delusions,  unrecognized  as  such, 
has  created  much  trouble  in  courts  and  out,  but  this 
type  of  case  is  too  well  known  to  need  any  illustration. 
Text  books  of  psychiatry  deal  with  the  falsifications  of 
paranoia  and  other  insanities.  That  the  really  in>am' 
also  sometimes  lie  pathologically,  that  is,  tell  for  no 
normal  purpose  what  they  adequately  know  to  be 
untrue,  is  a  fact  not  so  well  understood.  But  < 
that  we  need  not  be  especially  concerned  with  in  our 
case  histories.  It  has  been  well  brought  out  in  the 
previous  literature  on  pathological  lying,  as  witness  in 
our  Chapter  II.  In  the  present  chapter  we  do  not 
include  the  out-and-out  insane,  nor  the  definitively 
feeble-minded,  nor  the  recognizably  epileptic. 

Much  more  difficult  of  understanding  and  much 
less  easily  recognized  because  of  the  mildness  of  many 
of  the  symptoms,  or  their  variations  from  time  to  time, 
are  the  types  which  we  enumerate.  Several  of  these 
offer  no  complete  picture  of  insanity  —  even  '• 
although  clearly  aberrational,  extremely  defective  in 
self-control,  and  markedly  crinainalistic,  did  not  show 


BORDER-LINE   MENTAL  TYPES        219 

to  some  psychiatrists  who  observed  him  a  sufficiently 
clear  correspondence  to  any  form  of  insanity  as  laid 
down  in  the  old-school  text-books  to  be  practically 
regarded  as  insane  and  in  need  of  long  segregation. 
In  considering  this  whole  matter  we  must  never  forget 
that  there  is  no  wall  of  demarcation  between  those 
whose  conduct  clearly  betokens  insanity  and  those  who 
are  not  insane.  There  are  plenty  of  instances  where  the 
easily  passable  border  between  the  two  is  permanently 
occupied  or  is  at  times  approached. 

We  keep  our  border-line  cases  separate  in  order  to 
emphasize  that  pathological  lying  by  an  insane  person 
does  not  make  a  pathological  liar  in  the  true  sense. 
We  should  hesitate,  however,  to  give  in  legal  form 
a  verdict  of  insanity  in  several  of  these  border-line 
cases  we  cite  —  they  are  very  difficult  to  classify,  and 
the  question  of  responsibility  called  for  sometimes  hi| 
court  work  is  unanswerable.  Keeping  even  these  mild 
cases  away  from  our  others  serves,  however,  to  lessen 
confusion ;  we  need  in  this  subject  to  conserve  all  the 
clearness  possible  by  holding  to  fundamental  classifica- 
tions and  showing  up  vagueness  of  definition  where  it 
does  exist. 

Perhaps  we  are  over-particular  in  keeping  such  a  case 
as  No.  22  in  this  chapter.  The  commonsense  observer 
would  hardly  regard  this  girl  as  at  all  lacking,  even 
in  self-control.  On  the  other  hand,  for  the  purpose 
of  illustrating  the  subject  of  pathological  accusation 
we  have  kept  Case  17  in  the  ,  previous  chapter 
when  it  clearly  shows  great  resemblance  to  Case  26 
and  is  in  reality  a  border-line  type.  Then,  too, 
the  swindler,  Case  12,  in  some  respects  belongs  in 
this  chapter. 

We  are  hardly  called  on  in  this  work  to  discuss  the 


220  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

lying  of  drug  habitues,  although  they  so  frequently 
in  their  mental  conditions  represent  border-line  types. 
They  are  often  on  the  verge  of  a  psychosis  as  the  result 
of  their  intoxications.  Their  lying  is  mostly  done  for 
a  purpose,  to  be  sure,  and  hence  much  would  not  come 
under  the  head  of  pathological  lying,  but  occasionally 
veracity  is  so  much  interfered  with  that  there  seems 
to  be  a  tendency  to  aimless  lying.  This  class  of  cases, 
however,  is  sufficiently  discussed  in  special  literature 
pertaining  to  the  subject.1 

CASE  22 

Summary:  A  girl  of  14,  a  most  vigorous  and  vivacious  personal- 
ity, had  for  a  couple  of  years  pursued  a  curiously  active  career  of 
misrepresentation,  of  obtaining  goods  under  false  pretenses 
and  running  away  from  home  even  to  distant  places.  Her  con- 
versational ability  was  above  normal;  her  lies  were  evolved  for 
the  purpose  of  adapting  herself  to  the  peculiar  circumstances  in 
which  she  frequently  found  herself.  Her  general  conduct 
combined  with  her  abnormal  psychomotor  activity  gave  ground 
for  the  diagnosis  of  constitutional  excitement  —  hypomania. 

Birdie  M.,  14  years  old,  we  saw  after  some  clever  detective 
work  had  proved  her  to  be  the  girl  who  in  another  town  had 
repeatedly  swindled  shop-keepers.  It  seems  she  had  been 
accustomed  to  take  the  train  for  localities  where  she  had 
no  connections  whatever,  and  there  enter  shops  and  make 
away  with  whatever  she  could.  An  astounding  incident 
was  when  she  returned  some  goods  she  had  stolen  and  per- 
suaded the  manager  to  "refund"  her  the  money  on  the  same. 
This  was  regarded  by  the  authorities  as  extremely  clever. 

1  Vide,  "  Morphinism  and  Narcomanias  From  Other  Drugs,"  by  T.  D. 
Crothers.  Philadelphia,  Saunders  and  Co.,  1902.  Also  Chapter  V,  Stimu- 
lants and  Narcotics,  in  "  The  Individual  Delinquent,"  by  William  Ucaly. 
Boston,  Little,  Brown,  and  Co.,  1915. 


BORDER-LINE  MENTAL  TYPES 

We  found  Birdie  very  small  for  her  age.  Weight  76  Ibs. ; 
height  4  ft.  8  in.  Tonsils  very  large.  Teeth  excessively 
crowded.  No  sensory  defect.  Not  yet  menstruated.  A 
very  nervous  type ;  quick  physical  and  mental  reactions ; 
exceedingly  active,  restless  manner. 

Our  psychological  impressions  state  that  Birdie  did  all 
her  tests  brilliantly  and  quickly,  but  very  often  with  less 
accuracy  than  would  have  been  the  case  had  she  taken  the 
time  to  think  quietly  rather  than  work  rapidly.  She  was 
very  keen  to  make  the  best  possible  record.  "I  am  proud 
of  being  quick ;  nothing  is  hard  for  me ;  it  was  not  hard 
at  school.'*  It  was  found  by  steadying  her  that  she  gave 
a  more  accurate  performance.  We  diagnosed  her  ability 
as  good,  but  her  school  advantages  had  been  poor.  Other- 
wise we  noted  she  was  a  pert,  talkative,  responsive  child,  of 
a  distinctly  nervous  and  somewhat  unreliable  type.  Her 
ideas  came  tumbling,  one  on  top  of  another.  Under  close 
supervision  she  was  able  to  control  her  mental  processes 
fairly  well.  For  instance,  on  the  antonym  test,  where  oppo- 
sites  to  twenty  stimulus  words  are  called  for,  Birdie  gave 
them  in  the  remarkably  rapid  average  time  of  .8  of  a  second, 
with  only  one  failure  and  one  error.  This  is  an  exceptional 
record.  From  this  and  her  unexpected  powers  of  self-con- 
trol exhibited  on  some  other  tests  we  were  obliged  to  conclude 
that  her  aberrational  tendencies  were  not  very  deep-set. 
Her  mental  traits  seemed  to  conform  most  nearly  to  the 
type  designated  as  constitutional  excitement,  or  hypomania. 
Further  observation  of  the  case  confirmed  us  in  this  first 
view  of  it. 

On  the  "Aussage"  or  Testimony  Test  she  gave  13  items, 
all  correct,  upon  free  recital.  On  questioning,  14  more  de- 
tails were  added,  but  6  of  these  were  incorrect.  Of  the  6 
suggestions  offered  she  accepted  none. 

Birdie  immigrated  from  Austria  with  her  family  when  she 


222*  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

was  10  years  of  age.  She  came  of  a  healthy  family  ;  all 
of  her  grandparents  and  many  of  her  uncles  and  aunts 
are  living.  We  get  no  history  of  any  insanity,  epilepsy, 
or  feeblemindedness  on  either  side.  She  is  one  of  7  children, 
several  of  whom  have  had  nervous  troubles.  Two  of  the 
children  had  convulsions  in  infancy,  but  then  only.  One 
brother  at  10  years  old  is  an  excessive  stammerer  and 
extremely  nervous. 

Birdie  was  born  after  a  pregnancy  during  which  the  mother 
was  much  worried  and  in  poor  health.  The  father,  too,  was 
sickly  at  that  time.  The  family  conditions  were  defective 
on  account  of  poverty  and  illness  during  a  large  share  of  the 
period  when  the  children  were  born.  Birdie  at  birth  was 
very  small  and  there  was  difficulty  in  resuscitation.  She, 
however,  was  never  seriously  ill  until  she  was  7  years  of 
when  she  had  something  like  peritonitis.  No  spasms  or 
convulsions  at  any  time.  She  was  a  very  small  child  during 
her  infancy,  but  walked  at  8  months  and  talked  very  well 
indeed  when  she  was  only  one  year  old.  Developmental 
history  otherwise  negative,  but  all  along  there  has  heen  poor 
family  control  on  account  of  ill  health  and  the  slight  earning 
capacity  of  the  father. 

During  the  several  months  we  knew  Birdie  she  was  al- 
ways a  most  unreliable  person.  She  repeatedly  ran  away 
from  home  and  was  lost  track  of.  On  one  occasion  she  got 
as  far  as  Omaha.  By  the  use  of  elaborate,  but  plausible 
stories  she  always  succeeded  in  winning  the  friendship  of 
reputable  people.  Once  she  was  found,  after  she  had  been 
away  several  weeks,  residing  in  a  good  home  in  another  State 
where  the  people  thought  of  adopting  her  on  account  of  her 
brightness.  Many  times  she  wandered  about  her  home  city 
and  in  the  most  active  and  sly  fashion  purloined  anything 
she  cared  for.  Several  times  when  she  was  taken  by  the 
police  she  invented  clever  stories,  without  the  least  faltering, 


BORDER-LINE  MENTAL  TYPES 

that  seemed  entirely  fitted  to  the  occasion.  As  the  investi- 
gator said,  she  talked  incessantly  with  not  the  slightest  hesi- 
tation and  was  always  airy  and  sure.  No  one  to  whom  she 
had  gone  with  her  misrepresentations  questioned  her  ve- 
racity —  she  always  came  out  with  a  clearly  connected  and 
plausible  story.  We  noted  that  her  parents  in  comparison 
seemed  quite  stupid. 

Of  course  Birdie  passed  under  various  names.  Once  we 
recognized  her  picture  in  the  newspaper  representing  a  weary, 
disheartened  girl  who  was  tired  walking  all  day  long  from 
one  employment  bureau  to  another.  She  stated  to  the 
reporter  it  was  her  ambition  to  become  a  model  servant. 
When  in  Omaha  her  mental  peculiarities  were  recognized 
and  she  was  studied  by  a  competent  alienist  who,  however, 
was  not  willing  to  render  a  verdict  of  non  compos  mentis 
to  the  police.  This  was  when  she  had  run  away  from  Chi- 
cago and  had  told  a  lot  of  stories  all  of  which  had  turned  out 
to  be  untrue.  The  trouble  which  she  created  in  various 
communities  by  reason  of  her  hyperactive  delinquencies  has 
not  been  small. 

With  much  merriment  and  an  excessive  amount  of  facial 
expression  this  little  girl  held  forth  to  us.  It  is  hardly  neces- 
sary to  say  that  the  account  varied  somewhat  from  day  to 
day.  She  did  not  like  it  at  home  and  did  not  propose  to  go 
back  there.  There  were  too  many  in  the  family.  As  soon 
as  the  floor  was  scrubbed  one  of  the  children  would  get  it 
all  dirty  again.  She  had  started  for  New  York,  but  the  old 
gatekeeper  at  the  station  was  mean  and  she  could  not  slip 
by  him.  She  got  along  all  right  in  Omaha,  but  finally  she 
gave  herself  up  to  the  police  there.  She  thinks  perhaps  she 
might  go  up  to  the  people  in  Wisconsin  who  wanted  to  adopt 
her.  In  any  case,  she  can  do  a  great  deal  better  than  Viola 
B.  who  ran  away  from  New  York  and  got  caught,  and  was 
so  much  talked  about  in  the  newspapers. 


224  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

Thus  her  story  would  run  along  at  great  length,  Birdie 
in  the  meanwhile  chuckling  with  the  thought  of  her  own 
escapades. 

We  never  recommended  institution  life  because  it  seemed 
as  if  better  things  might  be  done  for  this  girl.  We  felt  that 
if  she  were  built  up  from  a  physical  standpoint  her  tendency 
towards  nervous  excitement  might  grow  less.  Her  tonsils 
were  removed.  Every  one  felt  that  the  girl's  good  mental 
abilities  should  be  conserved  to  the  utmost.  Attempts  at 
management  in  a  different  environment  gave  some  hope  of 
success,  and  after  a  time  her  parents  moved  to  a  smaller  town, 
when  we  lost  oversight  of  the  girl.  Following  our  acquaint- 
ance with  the  case  it  had  been  managed  in  the  light  of  her 
characteristics,  and  her  falsifying  tendencies  were  constantly 
discounted  by  those  in  charge.  We  felt  that  her  tendency 
was  to  grow  more  stable. 

Three  years  later:  We  have  just  gained  further  informa- 
tion concerning  Birdie.  The  family  is  still  in  straitened 
circumstances,  the  father  having  proved  too  weak  a  char- 
acter to  support  them.  He  posed  as  somewhat  of  a  gentle- 
man and  made  off  to  another  country.  Birdie  is  said  to 


Mental  conditions:  Constitutional  excitement.     Case  22. 

Girl,  age  14  year>. 

Developmental  conditions:   Defective  pregnancy. 
Early  impaction  of  teeth. 
Poor  general  physical  conditions. 
Home  conditions:   Poverty. 

Irritability  of  father  and  mother. 
Delinquencies :  Mentality : 

Running  away.  Ability  good ; 

Stealing.  Constitutional 

Lying.  excitement. 


BORDER-LINE   MENTAL  TYPES        225 

have  worked  steadily  for  months  at  a  time,  but  over  a  year 
ago  suddenly  left  home  once  more,  this  time  going  with  a 
stage  company.  Although  the  police  in  several  cities  have 
been  appealed  to,  no  trace  has  been  obtained  as  yet  of  our 
young  friend.  Whether  her  lying  was  continued  at  home 
we  cannot  satisfactorily  learn,  nor  do  we  know  accurately 
about  any  continuance  of  her  state  of  excitement,  but  without 
doubt  Birdie  in  her  present  wandering  is  fabricating  anew, 
and  is  what  she  was  before,  namely,  a  young  adventuress. 


CASE  23 

Summary:  A  girl  of  15  having  been  out  all  of  one  night,  re- 
lated a  story  to  the  police  of  having  been  led  off,  and  incidentally 
made  the  statement  that  she  had  been  repeatedly  immoral, 
once  with  a  relative.  She  dictated  and  signed  a  detailed  account 
of  the  affairs,  giving  times  and  places.  This  was  used  in  inves- 
tigating and  led  to  much  fruitless  effort  even  on  the  part  of 
experienced  people  —  her  story  was  quite  untrue.  When  studied 
she  proved  to  be  a  mild  case  of  chorea,  exhibiting  the  typical 
psychotic  tendencies  of  that  disease,  such  as  we  have  observed  in 
court  work  a  number  of  times. 

Nellie  M.,  when  brought  to  us  by  her  grandmother,  fol- 
lowing the  girl's  experience  with  the  police  who  had  been 
told  by  her  of  immoralities  practiced,  was  found  to  be  rather 
a  nice  looking  and  gentle  girl,  pleasant  and  responsive  with 
us. 

On  the  physical  side  we  found  her  to  be  poorly  developed 
and  nourished.  Weight  93  Ibs. ;  height  4  ft.  9  in.  Vision 
about  f£  in  each  eye,  but  wears  glasses  which  correct  this. 
Rather  poor  color.  Complains  somewhat  of  headaches. 
Marked  tremor  of  outstretched  hands.  Moderate  amount 
of  choreic  movements  in  arms  and  legs,  exaggerated  when 
attention  distracted.  Knee  jerks  exaggerated.  Conjunc- 


226  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

tival  and  palatal  reflexes  almost  absent.  Small  regular 
features.  Well  shaped  head.  Said  to  drink  at  least  4  cups 
of  tea  a  day.  Heart  sounds  negative. 

Mentally,  she  seemed  to  be  fairly  normal  in  ability,  but 
was  undoubtedly  in  a  peculiar  psychical  condition.  She 
had  reached  7th  grade  in  spite  of  much  moving  about,  even 
to  different  cities.  We  found  evidence  of  lack  of  good  nppcr- 
ceptive  powers  and  the  history  of  the  case  led  us  to  see  clearly 
that  she  had  been  just  recently  in  a  very  unstable,  if  not  quite 
confusional  mental  condition. 

The  "Aussage"  or  Testimony  Test  was  not  given  in  this 
case. 

The  history  of  heredity  and  development  shows  many 
points  of  importance.  The  mother  died  when  Nellie  was 
a  very  little  girl.  She  was  terribly  abused  by  a  husband 
who  was  excessively  alcoholic  and  in  general  a  tremendous 
brute.  They  lived  in  a  roadhouse  where  drunken  fights  were 
not  uncommon.  Nellie  has  been  brought  up  since  her 
mother's  death  by  other  relatives.  Outside  of  alcoholism 
on  the  father's  side  there  is  said  to  be  no  family  peculiarities. 
The  mother  came  from  a  very  reputable  family.  Nellie 
suffered  early  from  several  severe  illnesses.  When  only  >i\ 
weeks  old  she  is  said  to  have  been  in  a  comatose  condition  with 
scarlet  fever  and  diphtheria.  Later  she  had  measles,  whoop- 
ing cough  and  other  mild  ailments,  and  at  one  time  suffered 
extremely  from  constipation.  Walked  and  talked  early. 
No  convulsions.  Menstruated  first  several  months  ago. 
Sometimes  complains  of  severe  headaches.  One  observer 
reported  that  the  girl  had  been  subject  to  slight  melancholia 
within  the  last  year.  Choreic  movements  have  been  present 
off  and  on  for  about  a  year,  but  have  not  been  marked  until 
a  little  while  previous  to  the  incident  which  brought  her  to 
us.  The  diagnosis  had  been  made  that  it  was  a  case  of  mild 
St.  Vitus  dance.  During  all  the  year  Nellie  had  been  re- 


BORDER-LINE  MENTAL  TYPES        227 

garded  as  in  general  unreliable,  but  nothing  of  importance 
had  happened  prior  to  the  above  episode. 

Nellie's  story  as  told  to  us  seemed  coherent  enough.  Ap- 
parently she  had  entire  memory  of  her  past  actions  and,  in 
general,  of  what  she  had  said.  Her  own  statements  con- 
vinced us  as  much  as  anything  else  of  her  unreliability  at 
times.  It  seems  she  had  run  away  and  gone  to  a  picture  show 
and  had  fallen  asleep  there.  When  she  got  out  it  was  very 
late,  but  it  was  election  night  and  people  were  about  on  the 
street.  She  finally  was  accosted  by  a  woman  who  took  her 
home.  After  her  story  of  being  led  off  by  a  man  the  police 
were  called  into  the  case  and  she  gave  them  her  remarkable 
statement.  Nellie  told  us  of  picking  up  with  a  man,  too, 
who  lured  her  to  a  theatre,  but  who  left  her  there.  There 
was  no  way  of  corroborating  this.  She  fully  acknowledged 
to  us  the  lies  which  had  created  so  much  trouble.  "Well, 
I  was  telling  the  first  lies  and  then  when  I  was  going  to  tell 
him  that  I  knew  that  I  was  telling  wrong  he  acted  so  cranky 
and  said  such  things  to  me.  He  said  he  knew  somebody  had 
done  bad  things  to  me  and  so  I  thought  I  had  to  give  the 
name  of  somebody  and  so  I  gave  those  names. 

"The  girls  around  in  the  schools  I  used  to  go  to  talked 
about  these  things.  I  never  went  with  them.  I  was  always 
by  myself.  None  of  the  boys  said  bad  things.  The  police 
were  so  cranky  I  did  not  know  what  else  to  say.  They  said 
someone  must  have  done  it  to  me  when  I  was  younger  and  I 
said  it  was  my  cousin  because  he  always  used  to  want  to. 
He  said  he  would  give  me  a  pair  of  skates  if  I  would.  He  was 
13.  I  never  asked  my  grandmother  or  anyone  about  these 
things.  No  one  ever  explained  it  to  me.  Just  the  girls  are 
the  ones  who  told  me  about  these  things.  They  told  me 
themselves  how  they  had  been  out  at  night  with  the  boys. 
I  never  did  do  it  with  anybody." 

Examination  by  a  gynecologist  about  this  time  showed 


228  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

positively  that  there  had  been  no  immoral  relations,  and 
after  our  findings  the  case  became  a  closed  incident  so  far 
as  prosecuting  anybody  was  concerned.  Nellie  was  taken 
in  hand  by  the  family  physician  and  no  further  delinquencies 
or  false  accusations  have  been  complained  of  during  the  suc- 
ceeding two  years. 

Outside  of  the  girl's  general  frank  bearing,  undoubtedly 
a  point  rather  indicating  to  the  police  possible  truth  in  her 
statements,  was  the  detail  in  which  the  alleged  events  v.vre 
given.  The  signed  statement  coming  from  an  apparently 
naive  girl  of  15  would  seem  in  its  clearness  and  coherency 
to  bear  the  earmarks  of  truth.  We  always  regarded  tins 
case  as  one  of  our  interesting  examples  showing  the  unrelia- 
bility of  girl  witnesses,  especially  those  who  have  had  un- 
fortunate experiences,  even  though  merely  mental,  with  sex 
affairs. 


Mentality:   Mild  choreic  psychosis.  Case 

Girl,  age  15  years. 
Early  clandestine  sex  teachings. 

Delinquencies :  Mentality : 

Running  away.  Normal  ability, 

False  accusations.  temporary  aber- 

ration. 


CASE  24 

Summary:  A  girl  of  16  whose  general  conditions  won  ready 
sympathy  created  much  trouble.  She  repeatedly  made  serious 
accusations  against  a  man  and  her  attempt  at  suicide  made  her 
statement  seem  convincing.  Further  study  showed  the  abso- 
lute falsity  of  her  charges.  It  was  a  case  of  hysteria  which  had 


BORDER-LINE  MENTAL  TYPES        229 

developed  largely  upon  a  basis  of  injury  —  there  was  a  traumatic 
psychoneurosis.  Under  good  treatment  she  made  a  fine  re- 
covery; there  being  no  more  indulgence  in  pathological  accusa- 
tions, although  her  nervous  symptoms  recurred  for  a  short  time 
after  a  couple  of  years. 

At  the  time  when  we  first  saw  Georgia  B.  she  was  somewhat 
over  16  years  old  and  had  been  only  5  years  in  this  country. 
We  saw  her  because  she  had  run  away  from  home  and  at- 
tempted suicide.  From  the  latter  she  had  been  rescued, 
and  then  had  accused  a  neighbor  of  raping  her.  The  case 
proved  to  be  very  troublesome  until  the  nature  of  the  whole 
affair  was  understood. 

We  found  a  thin  and  anemic  girl,  not  at  all  prepossessing 
in  appearance,  dull  in  expression,  suffering  from  a  chronic 
suppurating  otitis  media. 

On  the  mental  side  we  had  much  trouble  in  conducting 
an  examination  because  she  was  greatly  given  to  tears.  She 
did  work  for  us  on  a  few  tests  and  her  efforts  would  have 
been  graded  as  those  of  a  feebleminded  person  if  her  emo- 
tional state  had  been  left  out  of  account.  Even  our  physical 
examination  was  largely  hindered  through  her  crying.  How- 
ever, her  story  was  told  in  a  straightforward  way  and  with 
that  show  of  emotion  which  had  previously  convinced  others 
that  grave  injustice  had  been  done  her.  Distinct  proof  of 
hysteria  was  present;  for  instance,  on  one  occasion  in  the 
middle  of  a  test  Georgia  apparently  became  unconscious. 
Her  head  dropped  to  the  table,  but  her  lips  were  red,  her 
face  did  not  change  color,  she  resisted  having  her  head  moved, 
and  in  a  moment  or  two  lifted  it  herself  to  a  more  comfort- 
able position.  The  diagnosis  from  such  symptoms  as  these 
and  from  her  history  was  not  difficult  to  make. 

The  "Aussage"  test,  for  obvious  reasons,  was  not  given. 

Georgia  told  her  story  with  surprising  coherency ;  in  out- 
line, it  was  as  follows :  She  ran  away  from  home,  and  then 


230  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

was  put  under  protection  of  the  police  authorities  by  a  man 
who  caught  her.  She  said  she  was  caught  when  standing  by 
a  drug  store  where  she  had  been  to  get  medicine,  just  ten 
cents  worth  of  peroxide.  When  asked  by  us  if  it  were  not 
really  carbolic  acid  she  called  for,  she  said  yes,  it  was  and 
that  she  intended  to  take  it.  She  wanted  to  get  rid  of  her 
life.  What  could  she  do  in  the  way  of  living?  Her  father 
and  mother  were  both  sick  and  they  could  not  live  long  and 
then  how  could  she  get  along  taking  care  of  three  little  c-lfil- 
dren?  When  asked  if  her  parents  would  not  be  terribly 
affected  by  her  suicide  she  said  that  it  would  not  be  the  first 
time  they  had  buried  a  child.  At  this  time  she  would  go 
no  further  into  her  history. 

On  the  next  day  she  talked  straight  to  the  point,  but  with 
a  remarkably  dull  expression  on  her  face.  She  said  that 
about  five  weeks  ago,  she  cannot  tell  the  exact  date,  she  went 
to  a  neighbor's  house.  A  man  there  wanted  her  to  come  and 
look  at  some  pictures.  He  finally  got  her  to  go  to  a  bed- 
room and  then  held  her  so  she  could  not  scream,  and  raped 
her.  She  is  sure  of  it.  He  later  choked  and  beat  her  and 
kicked  her  out  of  the  house.  At  first  she  was  afraid  to  tell 
her  people.  A  couple  of  weeks  afterward  she  went  back  and 
asked  why  he  did  that,  and  he  swore  at  her  and  accused  her 
of  being  bad,  and  she  and  he  talked  back  and  forth  for  some 
time.  "He  says,  Til  kill  you.  I  did  not  touch  you  at  all.' 
I  says,  'You  did.  You're  a  liar  and  you  can  kill  me  now  if 
you  want  to.  You  have  already  killed  me.  See,  I  grow 
large  like  this.'"  He  then  set  upon  her  and  beat  her  again. 
She  has  not  seen  him  since.  After  telling  this  Georgia  1 
to  cry  very  hard  and  said  that  she  really  is  killed  now  and  is 
done  for.  The  whole  story  was  told  in  a  straightforward 
way  with  a  full  show  of  emotion. 

A  complicating  feature  of  this  case,  resultant  upon  lack 
of  understanding  of  the  characteristic  vagaries  of  this  type, 


BORDER-LINE  MENTAL  TYPES        231 

was  the  action  of  a  vigorous  knight  errant.  He  was  the 
one  who  rescued  her.  Hearing  her  ask  in  the  drug  store  for 
the  carbolic  acid,  which  she  did  not  get,  he  thought  she  was 
desperate  and  questioned  her,  but  she  tearfully  refused  to 
answer.  He  quietly  followed  her  until  she  got  to  the  river, 
and  then,  when  she  had  her  foot  on  the  rail  of  the  bridge  and 
was  about  to  jump  off,  he  seized  her.  She  fought  and  kicked 
him  so  that  she  badly  hurt  one  of  his  legs.  She  told  him  she 
had  reason  to  commit  suicide.  He  got  her  to  some  house 
and  there  she  fainted.  When  she  came  to  she  described 
her  situation  to  him,  naming  a  man  who  boarded  with  a 
neighbor  as  having  raped  her.  She  told  him  this  was  the 
reason  she  had  tried  to  commit  suicide. 

This  young  man  visited  Georgia's  family,  found  them 
strangely  indifferent  and  not  inclined  to  believe  the  girl,  so 
he  set  out  to  see  that  justice  was  done.  With  his  well-in- 
tended efforts  he  succeeded  in  getting  several  agencies  to 
work  on  the  case,  the  parents  meanwhile  partly  resenting  his 
interference.  They  said  they  knew  what  kind  of  a  girl  she 
was. 

We  never  felt  thoroughly  satisfied  with  the  family  history 
on  account  of  the  comparative  ignorance  of  the  parents,  our 
only  source  of  information,  although  they  were  honest 
enough  people.  All  points  in  heredity  seemed  negative,  nor 
could  we  learn  that  there  had  been  anything  significant  in 
developmental  conditions.  The  girl  had  only  recently 
menstruated.  Her  people  felt  that  of  late  her  word  was  quite 
unreliable.  She  went  as  far  as  the  4th  grade.  On  account 
of  the  short  time  in  school  in  this  country  this  was  considered 
doing  fairly  well. 

Ten  months  prior  she  had  fallen  off  a  street  car;  it 
was  not  known  she  was  damaged  seriously.  A  jury  had 
given  a  verdict  of  several  hundred  dollars  against  the  com- 
pany, but  on  account  of  an  appeal  having  been  taken  the 


232  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

case  was  still  unsettled.  Since  the  accident  a  number  of 
fainting  attacks  had  occurred  and  Georgia  had  lost  one 
position  on  account  of  them,  a  place  where  she  had  worked 
for  2  years.  She  was  said  to  have  been  quite  healthy  be- 
fore the  accident.  Some  5  weeks  before  we  saw  her,  the  girl 
had  become  hysterical  and  announced  that  she  had  not 
menstruated  the  week  before  and  the  cause  was  that  she 
had  been  raped.  Her  behavior  was  so  peculiar  in  regard 
to  this  that  her  parents  did  not  believe  her  statements  and 
did  nothing  about  it.  The  girl  evidently  was  accustomed 
to  telling  falsehoods,  although  we  could  get  no  specific  ac- 
count of  them.  The  parents  were  very  anxious  to  avoid  a 
scandal,  for  though  they  were  poor  they  made  much  of  their 
respectability. 

Georgia  was  examined  after  a  later  reiteration  of  her  charges ; 
the  physician  said  that  she  had  not  been  raped.  After  we 
saw  her  the  parents  thought  it  was  best  to  go  to  another 
physician  with  the  young  man  who  had  become  so  interested. 
Once  more  the  report  was  that  there  had  been  no  rape,  but 
it  now  appeared  that  there  had  been  some  manipulation  of 
the  parts.  After  this  the  case  quieted  down,  but  Georgia 
had  run  away  again  just  before  this  second  examination. 
When  by  our  recommendation  she  was  now  placed  in  a 
convalescent  home  she  repeated  the  same  stories  and  an- 
nounced that  she  was  pregnant.  Of  course  more  trouble 
was  created  by  this  and  a  third  examination  had  to  be  made  to 
convince  these  good  people  who  had  been  recently  asked  to 
interest  themselves  in  her. 

After  her  stay  in  the  convalescent  home  Georgia  returned 
to  her  parents,  and,  appearing  to  be  recovered,  went  to 
work  again.  Her  record  for  two  years  was  unexpectedly 
satisfactory.  When  the  above  episode  had  blown  over  she 
regained  control  of  herself,  adapted  herself  to  family  condi- 
tions, and  worked  steadily.  On  one  occasion  her  nervous 


BORDER-LINE  MENTAL  TYPES        233 

symptoms  have  returned  with  much  depression  and  again 
an  attempt  at  suicide.  She  was  now  carefully  studied  in  a 
hospital  for  signs  of  insanity,  but  again  it  was  determined 
that  she  was  not  of  unsound  mind.  She  made  a  speedy  re- 
covery, adjusted  herself  once  more  to  her  surroundings,  and 
after  a  few  months  became  married.  During  the  last  year 
or  so  there  has  been  no  further  trouble.  A  settlement  of 
the  law  suit  for  injuries  was  made  before  her  more  recent 
period  of  depression.  At  the  time  of  even  her  last  attack 
we  can  learn  of  no  more  false  accusations  having  been  made.. 
The  family  attitude  about  her  has,  all  along,  not  been  what 
it  should  have  been  to  have  gained  the  proper  results,  but 
the  problem  of  poverty  was  always  with  them. 


Mentality:  Traumatic  psychoneurosis.  Case  24. 

Girl,  age  16  years. 
Accident,  with  law  suit  following. 

General  physical  conditions:     Anemia,     poor 

nutrition, 
otitis  media. 

Delinquencies :  Mentality : 

Running  away.  Poor  ability  ; 

Attempted  suicide.  temporary 

False  accusations.  aberration. 


CASE  25 

Summary:  Case  of  a  young  man  of  19,  with  already  a  long 
record  of  criminalism,  who  created  much  trouble  for  a  court 
where  a  judge  was  keenly  anxious  to  do  justice.  The  fellow 
implicated  himself  in  a  sensational  murder,  but  investigation 
proved  this  to  be  untrue.  In  other  ways  his  word  was  found 
most  unreliable.  The  question  concerning  his  sanity  could  only 
be  answered  by  stating  that  he  was  an  aberrational  type  pecul- 
iarly inclined  to  criminalism,  and  therefore  needed  segregation, 


234  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

and  that  he  was  also  given  to  pathological  lying  and  self -accusa- 
tion. From  the  legal  and  social  standpoints  it  is  important 
to  note  that  the  case  represents  a  type,  unquestionably  abnor- 
mal, although  the  mental  pathology  could  not  be  subsumed 
under  the  head  of  any  one  of  the  designated  mental  diseases. 

The  case  of  John  B.  was  studied  at  the  request  of  a  judge 
who  had  continued  the  trial  because  of  the  manifest  mental 
peculiarities  of  the  defendant.  We  were  told  that  his  be- 
havior varied  much,  that  one  day  he  would  cry  and  apolo- 
gize, and  on  another  would  show  stupid  bravado.  As  the 
judge  stated,  John  had  long  been  in  disciplinary  institutions 
and  this  had  failed  to  do  any  good.  The  immediately  pe- 
culiar features  of  the  case  were  that  while  he  was  being  held 
for  vagrancy  and  robbery,  John  made  a  strong  attempt  to 
implicate'  himself  in  a  murder  case.  In  other  words  h< 
a  self-accuser. 

We  found  a  strong  young  man  of  19  years ;  weight  157 
Ibs.,  height  5  ft.  5  in.  Very  broad  shouldered  and  deep 
chested,  but  slouchy  attitude.  Good  color.  Eyes  bright. 
Varicocele.  Somewhat  defective  vision  in  one  eye.  Well- 
shaped  head  —  circumference  56.5,  length  18.5  and  breadth 
16  cm.  Thick,  heavy  voice.  Appears  dull  and  depressed, 
but  energizes  under  encouragement.  Other  physical  ex- 
amination negative.  Complains  merely  of  headaches  in 
left  frontal  region,  but  says  he  has  had  these  only  since  last 
year  when  he  was  struck  there  by  a  beer  bottle.  Recently 
an  excessive  user  of  tobacco. 

In  the  mental  examination  we  found  much  of  interest. 
When  first  seen  he  gave  every  appearance  of  being  a  mental 
defective,  but  by  judicious  stimulation  he  could  be  waked 
up  to  do  comparatively  good  work  in  several  directions.  On 
the  Binet  tests,  1911  series,  he  passed  all  but  one  of  the  1*2 
year  set ;  in  that  he  followed  the  suggestion  offered.  On  the 
15  year  old  tests  he  did  three  out  of  five,  The  failures  were 


BORDER-LINE  MENTAL  TYPES        235 

on  the  memory  span  of  figures  and  in  the  repetition  of  a 
sentence  of  26  syllables. 

By  our  other  tests  we  also  found  him  defective  in  verbal 
memory  processes,  even  when  he  read  the  passage  to  be 
remembered.  In  working  with  our  so-called  construction 
tests,  where  his  success  depended  not  only  upon  planning 
with  concrete  material,  but  even  more  on  the  ability  to  profit 
by  his  failures,  he  did  decidedly  poorly.  In  handling  the 
puzzle  box,  where  above  everything  is  required  perception 
of  the  relationship  of  one  step  to  another,  he  succeeded  very 
rapidly.  With  the  cross-line  tests,  which  require  mental 
representation  of  an  easily  remembered  figure  and  analysis 
of  its  parts,  he  did  very  poorly,  succeeding  only  after  the 
third  attempt  in  each  of  the  two  simple  tests.  This  is  a 
type  of  work  that  is  especially  easy  for  the  normal  person. 

In  our  "Aussage"  or  Testimony  Test  we  got  a  decidedly 
poor  result.  At  first  enumeration  he  gave  only  8  items,  and 
on  cross  questioning  gave  only  6  more.  He  denied  seeing 
other  objects  plain  in  the  picture,  but  contradicted  himself 
somewhat  on  this.  It  is  interesting  that  he  took  only  one 
out  of  four  suggestions,  notwithstanding  his  suggestibility 
on  the  Binet  test. 

On  school  work  he  does  altogether  much  better.  He  writes 
a  good  hand,  reads  fairly  well,  and  promptly  does  a  sum  in 
long  division.  He  claims  to  have  reached  the  6th  grade. 
One  difficulty  in  testing  him  was  his  prevailing  lethargy. 
We  constantly  had  to  fight  this  by  encouragement.  Once 
he  insisted  he  must  give  up  the  work  because  he  had  not 
had  a  smoke  for  an  hour  or  so.  Altogether,  including  his 
irregularities,  we  could  not  call  him  lower  than  poor  in 
ability,  possibly  subnormal.  He  did  not  come  within  the 
limits  of  the  feebleminded  group.  Just  where  to  place  him 
would  depend  upon  what  he  perhaps  could  do  under  other 
more  favorable  conditions.  So  much  for  the  tests  of  ability. 


236  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

In  studying  him  for  aberrational  tendencies  there  were 
positive  indications.  Most  significant  it  was  when,  in  the 
Binet  tests,  he  came  to  the  word  "justice"  and  turned  to 
the  examiner,  saying  feelingly,  "I  don't  know  what  that  is," 
and  then  burst  into  tears.  Yet  this  was  from  a  fellow  who 
had  offered  to  get  himself  into  even  worse  trouble  with  the 
courts.  He  made  much  of  his  worrying  about  not  having 
any  home  and  not  being  the  child  of  his  so-called  parents. 
His  attitude  was  of  sorrow  and  hopelessness  about  his  whole 
situation  in  life.  As  seen  again  about  two  weeks  later, 
still  more  evidences  of  aberration  were  found.  He  contra- 
dicted himself  then  in  regard  to  his  previous  stories,  in  regard 
to  his  home  life,  denied  he  had  made  self-accusations,  and 
very  clearly  did  not  remember  at  all  accurately  what  he 
had  previously  told  me.  In  fact,  he  evidently  was  not  quite 
clear  just  who  I  was,  although  he  had  before  been  brought 
across  town  under  the  charge  of  a  couple  of  officers  to  see 
me  —  an  important  break  in  his  incarceration.  He  also 
told  a  different  story  from  one  he  had  told  before  to  a  certain 
official  who  now  was  present.  He  seemed  rather  mixed  on 
a  number  of  points,  and  this  is  all  the  more  significant  be- 
cause he  had  been  heartily  afraid  of  being  adjudged  insane. 
Our  diagnosis  at  this  time  was  purely  tentative  as  far  as 
exact  diagnosis  was  concerned.  We  stated  that  in  our  opin- 
ion he  was  an  aberrational  type  and  the  practical  point  was 
that  he  should  neither  be  allowed  to  go  out  in  the  community, 
nor  be  sent  to  a  penitentiary,  but  rather  to  an  institution 
for  observation  and  perhaps  for  long  detention.  The  jury 
found  it  necessary,  as  usual  in  such  cases,  to  declare  him  in- 
sane. 

The  history  of  John  runs  as  follows :  From  an  evidently 
conscientious  parent  we  learn  of  nothing  significant  in  the 
family  history.  At  birth  he  was  said  to  be  bright  and 
healthy.  He  had  diphtheria  severely  at  4  years.  At  6 


BORDER-LINE  MENTAL  TYPES       237 

he  started  to  school.  He  always  got  along  well  in  his  classes, 
but  was  very  troublesome.  At  11  years  he  began  to  run 
away  from  home.  His  father  spent  much  time  and  money 
in  going  to  various  parts  of  the  country  for  him,  and  at  13 
years  of  age  he  was  placed  in  an  industrial  school.  He 
is  the  only  child.  He  came  home  after  2  years,  remained 
there  for  3  or  4  months  and  then  ran  away  once  more  to 
California.  (His  home  was  in  the  middle  West.)  He  was 
returned  by  the  police,  sent  to  the  industrial  school  for 
another  year,  and  then  again  returned  home.  He  stayed 
only  2  weeks  before  running  away  to  New  York.  Coming 
back  he  got  into  some  trouble  and  was  sent  for  the  third 
time  to  the  industrial  school.  There  he  stayed  until  6  months 
before  we  saw  him.  He  was  released  once  more  on  parole, 
stayed  at  home  a  week,  and  again  ran  away.  It  is  reported 
that  during  his  early  time  at  the  industrial  school  he  was 
rather  melancholy  by  spells,  and  at  one  time  tried  to  poison 
himself.  His  relatives  say  he  has  a  bad  temper.  He  had 
typhoid  fever  at  14,  but  made  a  good  recovery. 

John  has  been  known  for  years  as  a  great  liar,  having  told 
miserable  stories  about  his  parents,  all  of  which  were  quite 
untrue.  He  has  frequently  mortified  his  father  and  mother 
by  denying  his  parentage.  The  last  time  John  was  on  parole 
he  wrote  more  than  one  letter  to  police  authorities  in  his 
home  State,  informing  them  he  had  been  implicated  in  a 
serious  crime.  An  officer  at  the  reformatory  institution 
had  a  letter  from  him  purporting  to  be  written  from  a  peni- 
tentiary, stating  he  was  sentenced  there  on  a  charge  of  rob- 
bery. When  he  was  held  in  our  city  on  a  minor  charge,  he 
informed  the  police  officials  that  he  was  connected  with  a 
certain  notorious  murder  of  which  the  papers  had  been  full 
just  previously.  He  was  sent  out  with  a  couple  of  detec- 
tives who  soon  found  he  knew  nothing  about  the  actual 
facts,  and  that  his  alleged  accomplices  were  innocent  men. 


238  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

In  jail  it  is  reported  that  he  seems  childish.  He  has  to 
be  locked  up  alone  at  times  and  then  begs  and  teases  to 
get  out,  but  in  ten  minutes  or  so  will  repeat  the  bad  behavior. 
He  has  stolen  little  things  from  others  in  custody  and  has 
attempted  to  dispose  of  his  own  clothes  for  a  few  cents.  It 
is  definitely  reported  that  he  has  shown  evidences  of  poor 
memory.  From  the  institution  where  he  previously  had  been 
so  long,  word  comes  that  he  was  regarded  there  as  not  quite 
normal.  John  had  been  held  in  another  city  on  a  d 
of  rape,  but  without  much  evidence,  for  he  was  allowed  to 
go.  We  could  not  find  out  whether  he  made  self-accusations 
in  that  case. 

In  his  story  to  us  he  complains  bitterly  about  his  treat- 
ment at  the  old  institution,  maintains  he  was  head  laundry 
man  there,  tells  about  his  excessive  smoking  of  late,  denies 
his  parentage,  says  the  only  friend  he  has  is  a  certain  church 
worker,  maintains  lie  did  not  have  any  home  to  go  to  from 
the  industrial  school,  intimates  he  will  commit  suicide  if 
there  is  any  question  of  his  being  declared  insane,  says  that 
he  had  earlier  stolen  things  from  home,  tells  of  having  spells 
when  things  get  black  in  front  of  his  eyes  and  can't  see  for  a 
little  while,  says  he  wants  to  be  sent  to  the  penitentiary  and 
wants  to  start  right  now  serving  his  term. 

All  told,  there  was  nothing  so  striking  about  this  whole 
case  as  the  extravagant  tendencies  towards  prevarication. 
For  years  he  has  been  lying  to  no  purpose,  although  he  has 
never  been  previously  regarded  as  insane.  Now  he  appears 
as  an  extreme  self-accuser  and  as  a  fellow  whose  word  can't 
be  trusted  from  hour  to  hour.  The  lying,  regarded  as  an 
aberrational  tendency,  is  out  of  proportion  to  our  findings 
of  abnormality  in  any  other  sphere  of  mental  activity, 
except  perhaps  the  evidences  of  defective  memory  processes. 
One  trouble  in  gauging  his  memory  is,  of  course,  the  boy's 
prevarications,  but  one  might  argue  that  if  his  memory 


BORDER-LINE  MENTAL  TYPES        239 

processes  were  as  good  as  his  other  abilities  he  would  make 
equal  use  of  them. 

Following  our  study  and  recommendation  in  the  case 
John  was  found  not  guilty,  but  insane.  Then  being  resident 
of  another  State,  and,  indeed,  being  on  parole  from  a  re- 
formatory institution  there,  he  was  held  over  to  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  that  State,  and  placed  in  a  hospital  for  the  criminal 
insane.  We  have  a  full  report  from  the  latter  place  which  is 
exceedingly  illuminating.  It  appears  that  despite  his  first 
terror  of  being  sent  to  an  asylum  he  adapted  himself  to  his 
new  surroundings  very  readily.  It  is  stated  that  he  assisted 
with  the  ward  work  and  spent  his  leisure  time  in  reading 
and  playing  cards.  He  asked  for  work  outside  on  the 
grounds  and  was  regarded  as,  a  .very  courteous  and  genial 
patient.  No  evidence  of  delusional  or  hallucinatory  trends 
could  be  obtained.  He  always  seemed  to  be  well  oriented 
and  conscious  of  everything  going  on  about  him.  Emotion- 
ally he  appeared  somewhat  subnormal  inasmuch  as  he  did 
not  worry  about  his  own  condition,  but  said  he  was  perfectly 
contented.  (The  latter,  of  course,  to  a  psychiatrist  would 
be  significant.)  He  was  a  great  talker  and  his  stories  were 
well  listened  to.  John  said  that  when  he  was  indicted  for 
robbery  his  lawyer  advised  him  to  feign  insanity  and  as  a 
result  he  had  been  sent  to  that  hospital.  (It  is  to  be  remem- 
bered that  with  us  he  made  great  effort  to  show  off  his  mental 
powers  at  their  best  and  evidently  did  somewhat  better  work 
than  when  later  in  the  hospital.)  He  gave  them  a  history  of 
being  somewhat  of  a  cocainist  and  morphinist,  of  being  a  slick 
"pickpocket,"  and  of  associating  with  prominent  criminals, 
particularly  "auto"  bandits.  He  was  boastful  of  his  ex- 
periences, but  sometimes  admitted  that  he  prevaricated. 
It  is  most  interesting  to  note  that  he  told  a  story  of  having 
concealed  in  Chicago  some  plunder  —  jewels,  money,  and 
so  on  —  and  was  really  taken  to  Chicago  by  one  of  the 


240  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

Board  of  Visitors  of  the  hospital  to  find  the  booty.  It  is 
hardly  necessary  to  say  it  was  not  located.  The  last  of 
the  hospital  report  states,  "Inasmuch  as  we  were  unable  to 
prove  that  he  had  any  form  of  insanity  he  was  discharged." 

It  is  of  no  small  importance  for  discussion  of  the  relation 
between  insanity  and  criminalism  to  know  that  there  are 
such  cases  as  this  where  the  individual  is  unquestionably 
aberrational  and  yet  does  not  conform  in  mental  symptoms 
to  any  one  of  the  definitive  "forms  of  insanity."  They 
may  be  lacking  in  normal  social  control  and  in  ability  to 
reason,  impulsively  inclined  to  anti-social  deeds  and  there- 
fore social  menaces,  but,  notwithstanding  this,  may  not  be 
classified  under  the  head  of  any  of  the  ordinary  text-book 
types  of  mental  diseases. 

It  is  clear  that  for  the  protection  of  society  a  different 
notion  of  what  constitutes  mental  aberration  or  insanity 
should  prevail,  so  that  these  unusually  dangerous  types 
might  be  permanently  segregated.  It  would  really  seem 
that  just  the  findings  which  the  hospital  statement  enumer- 
ates would  convince  one  of  this  individual's  marked  abnor- 
mality from  a  social  point  of  view  and  that  his  being  at 
large  was  a  grave  undesirability. 

The  latest  information  concerning  this  young  man  is  that 
he  was  being  held  in  a  Western  city  for  burglary. 

We  should  hesitate  to  make  out  a  card  of  causative  fa< 
in  this  case.  It  is  clear  that  the  major  cause  in  his  delin- 
quency was  his  aberrational  mentality.  What  there  wns 
by  way  of  causation  back  of  this,  our  history,  although  ob- 
tained from  an  apparently  conscientious  parent,  is  too 
meagre  for  explanation. 

CASE  26 

Summary:  Boy  of  16  had  for  6  years  caused  a  great  amount  of 
trouble  by  his  general  unreliability  and  excessive  lying.  He  had 


BORDER-LINE  MENTAL  TYPES        241 

been  tried  away  from  his  own  people  in  private  homes  and  in 
institutions  without  success.  His  lying  was  excessive  and  often 
showed  no  purpose  and  no  foresight.  His  peculiar  delinquencies 
demonstrated  weakness  of  will.  Although  in  good  general 
physical  condition  he  simulated  illnesses.  Mental  and  physical 
characteristics  rendered  certain  the  diagnosis  of  constitutional 
inferiority. 

We  saw^William  S.  first  when  he  was  over  16  years  of  age, 
after  he  had  been  arrested  for  stealing.  He  had  already 
been  in  three  institutions  for  delinquents.  From  his  father 
and  others  we  gained  a  long  story  of  the  case. 

William  was  in  fairly  good  physical  condition.  No 
sensory  defect.  Weight  125  Ibs. ;  height  5  ft.  3  in.  Al- 
though well  enough  developed  in  other  ways  he  was  a  marked 
case  of  delayed  puberty ;  as  yet  no  pubescence.  Strength 
only  fair ;  for  his  age,  muscles  decidedly  flabby.  A  high, 
broad  forehead.  Large  nose.  Peculiar  curl  of  the  upper 
lip.  Small,  weak  chin.  These  features  give  him  a  peculiar 
appearance  —  readily  interpretable  as  showing  weakness  of 
character.  Cranium  notably  large.  With  small  amount  of 
hair  measurements  were :  circumference  57.8  ;  length  19.6 ; 
breadth  15.5  cm.  (Head  same  size  as  father's.)  Expression 
downcast.  Voice  high  pitched.  "Under  dog'*  attitude. 
Slouchy.  No  analgesia  or  other  signs  of  hysteria. 

The  performance  on  tests  was  peculiarly  irregular.  In 
this  monograph  we  have  omitted  discussion  of  the  results 
of  separate  tests,  but  the  citation  of  the  summary  as  dictated 
when  the  case  was  first  studied  will  prove  instructive :  The 
work  done  on  our  tests  was  very  irregular,  peculiarly  so. 
Perceptions  good  and  most  phases  of  the  memory  processes 
fair,  but  in  reasoning  ability  and  especially  in  tests  which 
require  the  application  of  some  foresight  the  results  are 
poor  indeed.  The  failure  is  remarkable  in  proportion  to 
what  he  could  do  in  school  work  and  to  his  abilities  in  some 


242  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

other  ways.  He  reads  fluently,  writes  a  very  good  hand, 
and  in  arithmetic  is  able  to  do  long  division,  but  showed 
no  grasp  of  good  method.  When  at  his  best  he  sticks  at  a 
job  well  enough,  but  does  it  with  no  intelligence  and  does 
not  save  himself  in  the  least  by  thoughtful  procedures.  We 
were  interested  to  note  that  in  a  game  which  he  said  he 
had  played  a  great  deal,  namely  checkers,  he  made  the  most 
foolish  and  shortsighted  moves.  It  is  only  fair  to  say  I  hat 
this  boy  varied  in  his  performance  from  time  to  time ;  his 
emotional  condition  largely  controlled  his  performance. 

On  the  "  Aussage"  or  Testimony  Test  he  gave  a  functional 
account  upon  free  recital,  with  15  details.  On  questioning 
he  gave  13  more  items.  Out  of  the  entire  number  only  3 
minor  errors.  Of  5  suggestions  proffered  none  was  accepted. 

There  was  a  great  deal  more  to  be  said  about  this  boy's 
mental  peculiarities  than  what  was  evidenced  by  the  giving 
of  tests.  Our  observations  of  him  made  at  intervals  over 
a  period  of  several  months  corroborated  entirely  the  state- 
ments of  several  others,  including  members  of  his  own 
family.  The  boy  was  remarkably  unstable  in  his  idea 
purposes.  What  he  apparently  sincerely  wanted  to  do  and 
be  at  one  time  was  entirely  different  at  another.  His 
changeableness  was  shown  in  many  ways.  When  he  had 
been  found  apparently  suitable  employment  or  a  new  home 
he  often  would  stay  only  a  few  days.  The  father's  first 
statement  that  the  boy  was  a  craven  was  borne  out  by  all 
that  we  saw.  He  was  too  cowardly  to  be  "tough,"  but  he 
was  a  persistent  runaway  and  vagrant.  He  sometimes  used 
an  assumed  name.  In  general  demeanor  he  was  good 
natured,  but  always  restless.  Not  the  least  of  his  peculiar- 
ities was  his  ready  weeping.  It  was  amazing  to  see  so  large 
a  fellow  draw  down  his  chin  and  sob  like  a  young  child.  He 
was  easily  frightened  at  night.  Under  observation  he  had 
peculiar  episodes  of  behavior.  Once  in  a  school-room,  with- 


BORDER-LINE  MENTAL  TYPES        243 

out  any  known  provocation,  he  suddenly  began  to  cry  and 
scream,  picked  up  a  chair  and  soon  had  the  entire  room 
cleared  out.  A  moment  afterwards  he  was  found  sobbing  and 
bewailing  his  lot  because  he  "never  had  a  fair  chance."  On 
another  occasion  his  legs  strangely  gave  out  and  he  had  to 
be  carried  to  bed  by  his  fellows.  The  next  morning  a 
physician  found  him  with  his  legs  drawn  up  and  apparently 
very  sensitive  over  his  back  and  other  parts  of  his  body, 
but  with  a  little  encouragement  all  his  symptoms  soon  dis- 
appeared. He  gave  a  history  of  having  had  convulsions,  but 
this  was  found  to  be  untrue.  He  was  a  "bluffer"  among 
boys ;  when  met  valiantly  showed  always  great  cowardice. 

We  felt  much  inclined  at  first  to  denominate  him  a  case  of 
abulia,  but  his  stubbornness  in  recalcitrancy  led  us  to 
change  our  opinion.  From  the  above  physical  signs  and 
mental  phenomena  he  was  clearly  a  constitutional  inferior. 

Some  facts  we  obtained  on  the  family  history  were  most  sig- 
nificant. The  mother  of  William  suffered  from  attacks  which 
were  undoubtedly  epileptic.  Her  mother,  in  turn,  had  con- 
vulsions at  least  during  one  pregnancy.  We  did  not  learn 
whether  or  not  she  had  them  at  other  times.  No  other 
points  of  significance  in  that  family  are  known.  The  father 
himself  was  brought  up,  as  he  says,  strictly,  but  he  was  in- 
clined to  be  wild,  and  he  has  indulged  for  many  years  al- 
together too  much  in  tobacco  and  alcohol.  He  is  distinctly 
a  weak  type  and  the  poorest  specimen  of  his  family.  Wil- 
liam is  the  only  child.  There  was  nothing  peculiar  in 
developmental  history  until  he  was  2J  years  old  when  he 
suffered  from  "brain  fever  and  spinal  meningitis."  This 
was  said  to  have  left  him  with  a  stiff  right  arm  and  to  ac- 
count for  his  being  left  handed.  (We  could  discover  no 
difference  in  the  reflexes.)  Then  at  another  period  he  was 
sick  in  bed  for  6  months  with  some  unknown,  but  not  very 
serious  illness.  The  mother  has  been'  dead  for  years  and 


244  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

so  we  were  unable  to  get  accurate  details  about  this.  At 
a  very  early  age  William  sought  the  pleasures  of  tobacco, 
even  when  a  child  of  6  or  7  he  used  his  pennies  for  that  pur- 
pose. He  was  brought  up  in  an  environment  defective  on 
account  of  his  father  being  a  poor  earner  and  weak  in  disci- 
pline. But  still  his  parent  took  for  years  a  great  deal  of 
interest  in  him  and  it  was  not  until  the  boy  had  proven  him- 
self most  difficult  that  his  father  proclaimed  himself  unable 
to  manage  his  son. 

At  about  10  years  of  age  William  began  running  away  from 
home  and  manufacturing  untrue  stories.  One  of  his  favorite 
statements  was  that  his  father  had  been  killed  in  an  acci- 
dent. It  is  notable  that  all  these  years  he  has  been  attempt- 
ing to  gain  sympathy  for  this  or  that  assumed  condition, 
whether  it  be  his  own  alleged  physical  ailments,  or  fic- 
titious family  difficulties.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  during  this 
time  he  has  been  in  some  good  homes,  failing  each  time 
to  comport  himself  so  that  he  could  be  retained  there.  It 
was  typical  that  he  reiterated,  "  I  have  no  friends ;  there  is 
no  one  to  stick  up  for  me."  Besides  being  in  three  institu- 
tions before  he  was  16  years  old,  William  had  been  in  homes 
which  he  had  found  when  he  had  run  away,  or  in  which  he 
had  been  placed  by  his  father  or  by  social  agencies,  the  MT- 
vices  of  which  had  been  evoked.  His  stealing  was  often 
done  with  an  extraordinary  lack  of  foresight.  For  instance, 
in  one  good  position  that  had  been  found-  for  him  he  took 
a  box  of  cigars,  when,  of  course,  as  the  newcomer  he  would 
have  been  suspected,  and  even  after  his  employers  made  it 
clear  to  him  that  they  knew  of  the  theft  he  took  another  box 
the  next  day.  His  lying  under  all  occasions  was  nothing 
short  of  astonishing.  To  even  his  best  friends  he  offered 
all  sorts  of  fabulous  tales  which  one  iota  of  forethought 
would  have  made  him  realize  would  redound  to  his  disad- 
vantage. Almost  his  only  show  of  common  sense  in  this 


BORDER-LINE  MENTAL  TYPES        245 

was  when  he  gave  an  assumed  name  while  getting  a  new 
position,  and  even  this  performance  could  hardly  be  considered 
deeply  rational.  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  give  lengthy 
specimens  of  his  falsifications;  they  always  pervaded  his 
stories  about  himself,  but  strangely  enough  he  acknowledged 
many  of  his  delinquencies.  A  good  example  of  the  latter 
was  when  he  collected  a  little  money  for  a  new  employer  and 
on  the  way  back,  looking  in  a  shop  window,  saw  an  electrical 
toy  and  immediately  bought  it.  He  then  went  home,  not 
even  returning  to  the  office  to  get  the  wages  which  were 
due  him.  An  example  of  his  lying  is  his  responses  to  ques- 
tions about  his  schooling.  He  maintained  that  he  only 
reached  the  third  grade.  (In  reality  he  could  do  sixth  grade 
work  at  least.)  He  said,  "I  know  long  division  by  about  13 
and  about  5  figures.  I  don't  know  it  by  any  other  numbers." 
William  maintained  these  same  characteristics  over  the  6 
years  during  which  we  have  good  data  about  him.  We  know 
he  continued  the  same  kind  of  a  career  for  a  year  or  so  after- 
wards. 

Three  years  later  we  have  direct  information  from  his 
family  concerning  William.  His  habits  of  prevarication 
have  been  kept  up  steadily,  so  it  is  stated.  He  has  been 
in  and  out  of  institutions  and  at  present  is  serving  a  sen- 
tence for  larceny.  He  all  along  has  been  unwilling  to  face 
realities  and  has  lied  against  his  own  interests  continually. 
For  instance,  we  are  told  that  if  he  lost  a  place,  instead  of 
obtaining  the  help  his  family  would  have  been  willing  to 
give  him  in  gaining  another,  he  would  steadily  pretend  to 
be  holding  the  former  position.  He  is  still  considered  utterly 
unreliable  and  a  thoroughly  weak  character  with  a  tendency 
to  meet  a  situation  as  readily  by  a  lie  as  another  person 
would  tend  to  react  by  speaking  the  truth.  People  who  have 
known  him  of  late  speak  of  him  as  being  at  21  "just  the  same 
fellow,"  which  probably  indicates  that  he  is  thoroughly  a 
victim  of  habit  formation  as  well  as  of  innate  tendencies. 


246  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 


Mentality.  (Typical  constitutional  inferior.)    Case  26. 

Boy,  age  16  years. 

Heredity :  Mother  epileptic.  Maternal  grandmother 
had  convulsions.     Father  alcoholic  and 
tobacco  in  excess  —  weak  type. 
Developmental  conditions :   Early  disease  of  the 
central  nervous  system. 
Delinquencies :  Mentality : 

Running  away.  Abilities  irregular, 

Stealing.  psychic  episodes. 

Lying. 


CASE  27 

Summary:  Case  of  a  boy,  age  16  years,  who  told  the  most 
extraordinary  stories  of  his  vagrant  life  and  the  character  of  his 
family  to  officers  of  several  organizations  who  tried  to  help  him. 
He  understood  well  that  evidences  of  his  unreliability  would 
count  against  him.  His  stories,  although  often  repeated,  were 
not  credited,  and  later,  after  a  home  had  been  found  for  him, 
he  began  a  new  series  of  lies  that  seemed  almost  delusional  and 
somewhat  paranoidal.  After  months  during  which  much  had 
been  done  for  him  it  was  suddenly  discovered  that  he  was  an 
epileptic. 

John  F.  appealed  to  an  agency  for  assistance.  He  told 
a  story  of  having  wandered  with  his  brother  since  he  v 
young  boy.  "My  father  was  insane  from  what  my  uncle 
did  to  my  mother.  He  drowned  her.  The  house  caught 
on  fire  and  he  blamed  her  for  it.  She  said  she  didn't.  She 
was  too  sick  to  get  up  and  he  took  her  out  of  the  house  and 
his  big  son  pumped  water  on  her.  She  was  pretty  near  done! 
anyhow.  We  was  too  little  to  do  anything.  I  seen  it.  I 
remember  that  all  right.  I  can  see  that  yet.  Brother  and 
sister  died  about  3  years  ago.  Brother  took  sick  from  sleep- 


BORDER-LINE  MENTAL  TYPES        247 

ing  out.  We  slept  around  in  barns  for  2  years.  Father 
was  in  an  insane  hospital  in  Kansas.  I  think  my  uncle  was 
hanged  at  N.  Junction.  We  did  not  stay  there.  I  remember 
yet  when  they  went  to  put  my  mother  in  the  grave.  I 
jumped  in  with  her.  We  put  right  out  and  after  awhile 
folks  wrote  that  father  was  dead." 

So  much  attention  would  not  have  been  paid  to  this  grue- 
some tale  had  it  not  been  repeated  to  various  people  during 
the  course  of  several  months.  The  boy  wrote  letters  reit- 
erating these  incidents.  His  stories  always  went  on  to  in- 
clude the  most  surprising  amount  of  abuse.  It  seemed  that 
everywhere  he  had  been  illtreated.  Farmers  had  whipped 
him,  or  clothed  him  badly,  or  defrauded  him  of  his  wages. 

Physically,  we  found  John  to  be  in  good  general  condi- 
tion. A  strong  active  country  boy.  No  serious  defect  of 
any  kind  was  discovered. 

On  mental  tests  he  did  better  than  we  expected.  To  be 
sure  he  was  very  backward  in  arithmetic,  but  then  his  story 
was  that  he  had  hardly  ever  been  to  school  at  all.  He 
certainly  did  well  in  many  of  our  tests  with  concrete  material, 
but  the  results  as  a  whole  were  curiously  irregular,  even  if 
we  allowed  for  his  deficient  schooling.  At  that  time  we  were 
disinclined  to  pass  ultimate  judgment  on  his  mentality  with- 
out knowing  more  about  his  antecedents. 

On  the  "Aussage"  Test  he  gave  only  11  bare  items  on 
free  recital.  On  questioning  19  more  details  were  added. 
Of  the  entire  number  only  3  were  incorrect,  and  these  were 
not  serious  mistakes.  Of  6  suggestions  offered  he  accepted 
3. 

The  history  of  this  boy  and  his  family  has  never  been 
forthcoming.  The  authorities  in  his  alleged  home  State  have 
not  been  able  to  trace  his  family,  which  they  could  have  done 
had  his  stories  been  true  Their  report  made  it  clear  that 
the  boy's  reiterated  family  history  was  a  fabrication  —  the 


248  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

raison  d'etre  of  which  is  still  in  doubt.  In  spite  of  his  lying 
the  boy  was  found  a  desirable  home  in  the  country  at  the 
work  for  which  he  was  suited.  After  staying  for  a  few  weeks 
he  returned  to  the  city  and  got  lodgings  for  himself.  \\e 
next  heard  of  him  because  he  was  induced  by  a  "hold-up  " 
man  to  secrete  a  revolver  on  his  person  while  the  police  were 
in  the  neighborhood.  Upon  looking  up  his  landlady,  it 
was  found  that  while  with  her  he  had  suffered  from  epileptic 
attacks.  These  had  not  been  observed  during  the  several 
months  we  had  previously  known  him,  and  he  had  strongly 
denied  them  to  us.  In  our  court  work  we  constantly  inquire 
for  evidences  of  epilepsy;  in  this  cas  we  ivivivcd  nothing 
but  negation.  After  he  served  his  sentence  this  young  man 
was  lost  sight  of.  Even  in  the  institution  to  which  he  had 
been  sent  he  continued  his  fanciful  and  often  hideous  stories, 
still  largely  centered  about  the  idea  that  he  had  suffered 
unjustly  wherever  he  had  been. 

No  complete  summary  of  causative  factors  is  possible  in 
this  case.  The  major  cause  for  his  lying  as  well  as  other 
delinquencies,  particularly  his  vagrancy,  is,  of  course,  the 
mental  traits  peculiar  to  epilepsy. 


CHAPTER  VI 
CONCLUSIONS 

CHARACTERISTICS  OF  THE  INDIVIDUAL.     DIAGNOSIS 
PHYSICAL  FINDINGS 

OUR  19  mentally  normal  cases  (18  females,  1  male) 
showed : 

Good  general  condition 14 

Fair  general  condition        2 

Poor  general  condition 1 

Poor  development 2  „ 

Poor  development,  undersized  for  age      ...  £ 

Defective  vision 6 

Headaches       4 

Mild  nervous  symptoms 2 

Tonsils  and  adenoids     .     .     „ 3 

Fainting  attacks       1 

Gynecological  ailments '.  6 

Abdominal  tumor,  etc 1 

Hutchinsoniah  teeth £ 

"Stigmata  of  degeneracy " 3 

Premature  sex  development 2 

Comparing  the  above  with  the  findings  by  previous 
writers  we  see  little  chance  to  draw  safe  deductions. 
So  many  of  the  foreign  cases  have  been  insane ;  they 
can  ue  more  nearly  compared  with  our  7  border-line 
types  where  all  sorts  of  physical  conditions  may  be 

249 


250  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

found.  It  is  notable  that  a  large  percentage  of  our 
mentally  normal  cases  are  in j;ood_ jgneral  condition. 
Defective  vision  in  6  cases  may  fee  only  a  coincidence, 
but  perhaps  resulting  nervous  irritation  was  sometimes 
a  factor  in  producing  misconduct.  Headaches,  which 
Stemmermann  makes  so  much  of,  appear  as  an  incident 
in  only  a  small  number  of  our  cases ;  her  emphasis  on 
periodicity  also  we  cannot  corroborate,  there  are  hints 
of  it  in  only  one  or  two  instances,  but  then  her  cases 
for  the  most  part  are  not  comparable  to  ours.  That 
G  out  of  18  females  should  have  had  severe  gynecological 
ailments  is  not  to  be  wondered  at,  considering  the  trend 
of  their  lives,  but,  in  turn,  there  can  be  little  doubt 
that,  as  in  Cases  16,  18,  and  21,  the  local  irritation 
tended  to  bring  about  moral  disabilities. 

MENTAL  FINDINGS 

Considering  first  the  question  of  mental  capabilities 
we  can  classify  our  19  normal  cases  as  follows : 

Supernormal  in  ability 2 

Precocious ;  later,  still  considered  bright 1 

Good  ability 6 

Fair  ability,  perhaps  not  quite  up  to  the  former  classes    .  6 

Poor  ability 1 

Poor  ability,  hysterical  type 1 

Poor  in  general,  but  with  artistic  and  literary  ability  .     .  1 

Dull  from  physical  causes,  but  later  normal 1 

Over  and  beyond  the  above  enumeration  there  were 
some  intensely  interesting  facts  which  came  out  during 
the  intimate  study  of  these  cases.  We  are  at  once 
forced  to  agree  with  previous  writers  that  an  unusual 
number  of  the  pathological  liar  group  show  gift 
aptitude  for  language.  This  is  shown  by  their  general  • 

I 


CONCLUSIONS  251 

conversational  ability^  and  by  the  fact  that  many  of 
them  have  founH  out  themselves  that  they  had  capacity, 
for  instance,  for  writing  compositions.  Taking  our 
group  of  pathological  liars  in  the  strict  sense,  as  given 
in  Chapter  III,  we  find  that  no  less  than  7  of  these  12 
have  been  given  to  writing  compositions  and  stories. 
Three  of  them  had  definitely  commenced  long  stories 
or  novels.  It  is  most  unusual  among  other  offenders 
to  find  evidence  of  any  such  tendencies.  A  consider- 
able number  of  our  group  were  characterized  as  great 
talkers,  and  several  as  romantic,  dramatic,  fantastic, 
etc.,  even  by  ordinary  observers.  All  this  goes  to  show 
clearly  that  the  native  traits  making  for^verbaJjlu,ejQLcy 
are  strongly  correlated  with  pathological  Tying.  When 
it  comes  to  consideration  of  such  an Instance  as  Case  11 
we  have  the  point  more  strongly  brought  out.  Here 
the  individual  is  fairly  swung  down  his  life's  course  as 
the  irregularity  of  his  capacities  direct.  His  language 
ability  carries  him  along  as  nothing  else  will.  In  cor- 
roboration  of  this  interesting  point  the  conclusions  of 
other  authors  should  be  noted. 

The  aberrational  types  which  show  pathological  ly- 
ing are,  several  of  them,  depicted  in  our  Chapter  VI. 
But  little  in  summary  of  them  needs  to  be  said.  The 
general  mental  and  moral  weakness  of  the  constitutional 
inferior  very  naturally  leads  him  to  become  a  patho- 
logical liar;  he  follows,  by  virtue  of  his  make-up, 
the  path  of  immediate  least  resistance  —  lying.  The 
episodic  lying  or  aimless  false  accusations  of  the  choreic 
psychosis  needs  no  comment  —  the  conf usional  mental 
state  sometimes  accompanying  that  disease  readily 
predisposes  toward  fantastic  treatment  of  realities. 
The  relationship  of  constitutional  excitement  to  patho- 
logical lying  is  less  well  recognized,  but  fully  explicable 


252  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

when  we  recollect  the  rate  at  which  ideas  present  them- 
selves in  the  mental  content  of  such  individuals,  who 
have  little  time,  as  it  were,  to  discriminate  the  true 
from  the  false.  The  mental  conditions  leading  to 
purposeless  prevarication  which  supervene  in  the  real 
hysterical  mental  states,  or  during  the  course  of  trau- 
matic psychoneurosis  are  well  known.  The  individual  is 
to  be  surely  regarded,  at  least  temporarily,  as  suffering 
from  a  psychosis  in  many  of  these  instances,  and  falsi- 
fication, while  it  may  be  difficult  to  distinguish  between 
delusion  and  lying,  is  a  well  recognized  phenomenon. 
The  very  deliberate  lying  of  psychopathic  individuals, 
such  as  Case  25,  who,  though  so  strongly  aberrational, 
do  not  fit  under  the  head  of  any  of  the  classic  insanities, 
is  a  matter  for  earnest  consideration  by  all  who  have 
to  deal  with  delinquents.  There  is  altogether  too  little 
general  knowledge  of  this  type  of  fact.  The  correlat  ion 
of  the  various  epileptic  mental  states  with  pathological 
lying  is  well  recogni/ed.  In  many  of  the  eases  cited 
by  foreign  writers  it  has  turned  out  that  the  individual 
was  subject  to  epileptic  seizures.  It  is  another  illustra- 
tion of  the  great  variety  of  epileptic  phenomena. 
Something  of  a  point  has  been  made  in  the  literature 
heretofore  that  abnormalities  of  sexual  life  are  unduly  / 
correlated  with  the  inclination  to  pathological  lying,] 
and  the  conclusion  is  sometimes  drawn,  as  by  Stemmer- 
mann  (loc.  cit.  p.  90),  that  the  two  prove  a  degenerative 
tendency.  /Our  material  would  not  tend  to  show  this 
nearly  as  much  as  it  would  prove  that  the  psychical 
peculiarities  follow  on  a  profound  upset  caused  by 
unfortunate  sex  experiences.  j 

pathological  liars  is  undoubtedly 


a  deep-set  egocentrism,  as  Risch  states,  j  If  one  goes 
over  our  cases  it  may  be  seen  that  there  is  exhibited 


CONCLUSIONS  253 

frequently  in  the  individual  an  undue  amount  of  self- 
assertion.  There  is  very  little  sympathy  for  the  con- 
cern of  others,  and,  indeed,  remarkably  little  appercep- 
tion of  the  opinions  of  others.  How  frequently  the 
imagery  of  the  heroic  r61e  of  the  self  recurs,  and  how 
frequently  it  occupies  a  central  stronghold  is  seen  by 
the  fact  that  nearly  all  of  our  cases  indubitably  demon- 
strate the  phenomenon. 

Most  of  our  cases  have  been  studied  by  the  applica- 
tion of  a  wide  range  of  tests.  Indeed  many  of  the  indi- 
viduals have  been  studied  over  and  over.  It  is  beyond 
our  point  at  present  to  go  over  the  separate  findings 
because  there  is  no  evidence  of  a  strong  correlation  of 
any  type  of  peculiarity,  except  the  ones  mentioned 
here,  with  the  pathological  lying.  Memory  processes, 
for  instance,  as  ordinarily  tested  seem  to  be  normally^ 
acute. 

We  have  naturally  been  much  interested  in  the  result 
of  the  "Aussage"  or  Testimony  Test  work  with  this 
present  group,  on  account  of  the  possibility  of  demon- 
strating correlations  between  laboratory  work  and  the 
individual's  reactions  in  social  intercourse,  particularly 
when  there  has  been  falsification  upon  the  witness  stand. 
In  general  we  may  say  that  while  we  have  seen  normal 
individuals  who  are  not  falsifiers  do  just  as  badly  as  a 
number  of  these  individuals,  yet  for  the  group  the 
findings  are  exceedingly  bad.j  Perhaps  the  better  way 
of  stating  it  would  be  to  say  that  not  one  case  shows  the 
sturdily  honest  type  of  response  which  is  frequently  met 
with  during  the  course  of  testing  other  delinquents, 
even  as  young  as  the  youngest  of  the  cases  cited  here. 
Our  findings  stand  in  great  contrast,  we  note,  to  the 
results  on  other  test  work.  When  looking  at  the  table 
given  above  we  see  that  a  large  share  of  our  19  normal 


254  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

cases  are  up  to  the  average  in  general  ability,  and  yl 
as  a  group  they  fall  far  below  the  average  on  this 
Testimony  Test.  Take  Cases  8  and  9,  for  instance  - 
both  of  them  bright  girls  with,  indeed,  considerable 
ability  in  many  directions,  and  yet  both  of  'them  give  a 
large  number  of  extremely  incorrect  items  in  reporting 
what  they  saw  in  the  "Aussage"  picture,  and  also 
both  accept  a  very  large  proportion  of  the  sui 
tions  offered.  It  seems  as  if  frequently  in  1 
casea  there  is  no  real  attempt  to  discriminate  what 
was  actually  seen  in  the  picture  from  what  might 
have  been  in  a  butcher  shop.  In  most  cases  the 
fictitious  items  were  given  upon  questioning,  but 
without  the  offering  of  suggestions.  When  the  in- 
dividual was  allowed  to  give  merely  free  recital 
the  result  was  better.  This,  however,  follows  the 
general  rule. 

A  general  survey  of  work  on  other  tests  has  not  shown 
anything  immediately  Significant  in  correlations,  and 
this  makes  the  result  upon  the  "Aussage"  much 
more  notable.  Perhaps  it  may  be  urged  that  if 
these  individuals  had  been  told  to  key  themselves 
up  to  do  this  test  well,  being  forewarned  that 
otherwise  it  would  reveal  their  weaknesses,  they 
could  have  done  better.  Some  hint  of  this  may  be 
seen  in  our  story  of  the  results  of  tests  in  Ca> 
But  of  course  the  same  might  be  argued  about  the 
other  test  work  where  no  such  tendency  to  poor  re- 
sults was  discernible. 

The  folio  wing, table,  with  a  word  of  explanation,  will 
serve  to  bring  out  results  on  this  test  clearly  to  even 
the  reader  unfamiliar  with  the  specific  details  of  this 
subject.  A  general  description  of  the  test  is  found  in 
our  introduction. 


CONCLUSIONS 


255 


CASE 

ITEMS 

REPORTED 

ITEMS 

INCORRECT 

SUGGESTIONS 

Free 
Recital 

On 

Questioning 

Number     Per  cent 

Denominator  =  number  offered 
Numerator  =  number  accepted 

16 

16  2 

12  1 

3 

10% 

2 

15 

10 

14  3 

3 

12% 

f 

4 

12 

28  6 

6 

15% 

19 

15  2 

82 

4 

17% 

A 

3 

17  2 

20  5 

7 

19% 

t 

7 

II2 

17  4 

6 

21% 

1 

6 

17  1 

12  6 

7 

24% 

i 

13 

8 

21  7 

7 

24% 

1 

8 

16 

28  12 

12 

27% 

i  • 

9 

12 

32  12 

12 

27% 

i  . 

14 

7 

21  8 

8 

28% 

i- 

2 

10 

12  7 

7 

32% 

-'r- 

20 

6 

98 

8 

53% 

I 

Only  13  of  our  19  mentally  normal  cases  were  found 
to  have  had  the  "Aussage"  Test  done  so  uniformly  that 
results  could  be  fairly  compared,  as  in  the  above  table. 
The  reader  will  find  it  easy  to  refer  back  to  the  case  for 
noting  other  correlations  with  behavior.  In  the  first 
double  column  the  items  which  were  given  in  free 
recital  come  first,  and  in  the  second  part  the  number  of 
positive  responses  to  questions  by  the  examiner.  The 
coefficients  attached  to  these  represent  the  number  of 
egregious  errors  or  entirely  fictitious  items  given.  It 
should  be  clearly  understood  that  slight  deviations  from 
facts,  for, instance  in  color,  are  not  counted  as  errors 
for  our  present  purposes.  In  a  later  study  on  this 
whole  topic  of  the~  psychology  of  testimony  there  will 
be  much  more  complete  itemizing.  The  errors  in 
which  we  are  particularly  interested  can  perhaps  best 
be  called  pure  inventions.  In  the  next  double  column 
is  given,  first,  the  total  number  of  incorrect  items  and, 


256  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

then,  the  percentage  of  these  to  the  total  number  of 
items  reported.  In  the  last  column  suggestibility  is 
dealt  with.  We  have  been  accustomed  to  offer  7  sug- 
gestions, asking  the  individual  whether  such  and  such 
things  which  might  well  be  in  a  butcher  shop  really 
appeared  in  the  picture.  For  several  reasons  not  all  of 
the  7  suggestions  were  asked  in  every  case,  therefore 
the  result  is  best  viewed  us  a  statement  in  fractions 
the  numerator  being  the  number  of  suggestions  accept  ed 
and  the  denominator  the  number  of  suggestions  offered. 
As  a  last  statement  on  this  question  which  we  put  to 
ourselves,  namely,  whether  pathological  liars  show  the 
same  traits  in  the  laboratory  as  they  do  on  the  witness 
stand  or  in  general  social  life,  we  can  answer  in  the 
-  affirmative.  We  may  repeat  thai  others  have  mad' 
bad  records  as  some  of  this  group,  but  taking  the  group 
as  a  whole,  it  is  unlike  any  random  13  cases  which  might 
be  picked  out  from  our  other  classes  of  mentally  normal 
offenders.  On  the  other  hand,  many  a  feebleminded 
testifier  has  done  vastly  better  tban  the  median  of  this 
group.  The  errors  themselves  are  of  the  purely  inv 
tional  type,  such  as  your  ordinary  report  from  a  men- 
tally normal  person  does  not  contain.  (There  is 
perhaps  one  interesting  exception  to  this;  Case 
The  report  given  by  this  subject  included  ogiv^i. 
denials  of  some  of  the  main  objects  in  I  lie  picture,  and 
so  was  fictitious  to  this  extent.  She  did  not  say  that 
she  did  not  know  whether  these  to-be-expected  ol>j< 
really  were  in  the  picture  —  she  insisted  that  they  were 
not.)  So  far  as  suggestibility  is  concerned,  there  are 
great  differences  among  even  normal  people  in  all 
classes.  For  comparison  with  the  above  group,  we 
may  take  63  cases  of  mentally  normal  delinquents,  all 
of  whom  had  been  offered  the  full  7  suggestions.  T 


CONCLUSIONS  257 

median  error  of  this  group  was  two.  Lower  than  the 
fraction  thus  obtained  was  the  result  on  only  4  of  the 
present  cases.  We  have  been  interested  to  see  that 
with  some  of  the  pathological  liars  there  is  no  great 
suggestibility,  j  The  person  is  willing,  to  deal  in  his 
own  inventions,  but  not  with  false  ideas  which  others 
attempt  to  put  in  his  mind.  / 

DIAGNOSIS 

The  essentials  for  the  diagnosis  of  pathological  lying 
are  contained  in  the  definition  at  the  beginning  of  our 
book.  The  above  considerations  of  the  physical  and 
mental  make-up  of  pathological  liars  should  leave 
little  question  as  to  what  belongs  in  this  class.  Of 
course  here,  as  in  the  study  of  any  mental  traits,  border- 
line cases  difficult  to  discriminate  will  always  be  found.] 
Sometimes  one  will  not  be  able  to  determine  whether 
the  individual  is  a  true  pathological  liar  or  merely  a 
prevaricator  for  a  normal  purpose./  We  have  already 
stated  our  inability  ,to  determine  this  in  some  cases, 
and  yet  the  nucleus  of  the  type  stands  out  sharply  and 
clearly,  and  there  can  be  ho  doubt  as  to  what  is  prac- 
tically meant  by  the  definition. 

The  differential  diagnosis  involves  consideration  of 
the  characteristics  of  the  insane,  defective,  and  epileptic,  j 
We  repeat  that  we  agree  that  tne  mentally  abnormal 
person  may  engage  in  pathological  lying  quite  apart 
from  any  expression  of  delusions,  and  that  during  the 
course  of  such  lying  the  insanity  may  not  be  recognized. 
This  occurred  in  many  of  the  cases  cited  in  the  foreign 
literature,  and  if  the  prior  histories  of  many  individuals 
now  in  insane  hospitals  were  known  undoubtedly  such 
lying  would  be  frequently  noted.  But  once  the  person 
is  recognized  as  insane  he  need  not  be  classified  as  a 


258  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

pathological  liar.  This  term  should  be  reserved,  as  we 
stated  previously,  for  normal  individuals  who  engage 
in  pathological  lying.  Of  course  other  observers  have 
noted  such  lying  in  people  who  could  not  be  designated 
as  being  mentally  abnormal,  but  our  material  is  pecul- 
iarly rich  in  examples  of  this  kind. 

CORRELATIONS    STUDIED   FOR   CAUSES 

Heredity.  We  come  now  to  a  very  interesting  group 
of  facts  —  showing  at  once  complete  corroboration 
of  previous  observers'  statements  that  pathological 
liars  are  extraordinarily  "erbliche  belastet."  Taking 
our  19  mentally  normal  cases  we  find  the  following : 

Insanity  in  the  direct  family  (four  of  these  being  a  parent)  6 

One  or  both  parents  severely  alcoholic 6 

Criminal  or  very  dissolute  parent 4 

Suicide  of  parent 1 

Kx  I  remely  neuropathic  parent 1 

Syphilitic  parent 2 

Epileptic  parent 1 

Unsatisfactory  data 2 

Reliable  data  showing  normal  family  stock 2 

Thus,  out  of  the  19  cases  there  are  only  three  or  four 
which  do  not  come  of  stock  showing  striking  defects. 
Now,  as  we  go  on  to  show  later  that  unfortunate  condi- 
tions or  experiences  were  often  causal  factors,  the  total 
findings  seem  to  show  clearly  that  these  latter  influences 
generally  bore  their  unfortunate  fruition  upon  inherited 
instability. 

The  heredity  in  the  border-line  cases  is,  as  might  he 
expected,  even  worse.  These  facts  are  easily  discerned 
in  their  respective  case  histories. 

The  question  of  inheritance  of  similar  mental  trails 
is,  of  course,  important.  We  have  found  absolutely  no 


CONCLUSIONS  259 

proof  of  the  trait  of  pathological  lying,  as  such,  being 
inherited.}!)  The  reader  will  note  with  interest  partic- 
ularly the  facts  in  Cases  2  and  4,  where  we  at  first 
thought  we  had  to  deal  with  inheritance,  but  later  found 
there  was  no  blood  relationship  between  the  supposed 
parent  and  child.  In  those  instances  the  lying  of  the 
younger  individual  was  much  more  likely  to  be  the 
result  of  psychic  contagion,!  and  this  also  may  be  largely 
the  explanation  of  Cases  6  and  8,  where  an  older  rela- 
tive was  well  known  to  be  a  prevaricator.  The  bad 
inheritance  in  these  cases  then  turns  out  to  be,  corrob- 
orating what  we  found  in  studying  the  general  problem 
of  criminality,1  a  matter  of  coming  from  stock  that 
shows  defects  in  various  ways  —  all  making,  however, 
in  the  offspring  for  moral  instability. 

Developmental  Physical  Conditions.  Inquiry  into  our 
19  mentally  normal  cases  gave  the  following  findings : 
Antenatal  conditions  were  defective  in  2  cases  on 
account  of  syphilis  and  in  one  case  from  advanced  age 
of  the  mother.  The  accident  during  pregnancy  to  the 
mother  in  one  case,  the  severe  mental  shock  in  another, 
and  the  effect  of  illegitimacy  in  still  another  we  can  not 
evaluate.  In  2  cases  there  were  operative  births  with, 
however,  no  bad  results  known.  One  was  a  twin. 
Early  severe  disease  of  the  nervous  system  was  experi- 
enced by  one,  and  convulsions  during  infancy  by  two 
others.  Another  suffered  from  some  unknown  very 
severe  early  illness,  and  one  from  prolonged  digestive 
disturbance  in  infancy.  Three  had  in  early  childhood 
several  severe  illnesses,  one  had  a  long  attack  of 

1 "  Inheritance  as  a  Factor  in  Criminality.  A  Study  of  a  Thousand  Cases 
of  Young  Repeated  Offenders."  Edith  R.  Spaulding  and  William  Healy. 
pp.  24.  Bulletin  of  the  American  Academy  of  Medicine,  Vol.  XV.  February 
1914. 


260  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

"chorea."  Two  suffered  from  general  nervousness, 
incited  in  one  case  by  the  excessive  use  of  tea  and  in  the 
other  by  a  similar  use  of  coffee.  One  was  an  habitual 
masturbator  from  childhood.  Difficult  menstruation 
was  reported  in  only  one  case.  In  5  cases  there  was  a 
quite  normal  early  developmental  period,  according  to 
reliable  accounts.  In  3  cases  the  early  developmental 
histories  are  completely  unknown,  and  in  3  others 
uncertain.  The  data  of  developmental  history  in  I  he 
border-line  types  may  be  easily  noted  in  the  case  his- 
tories. 

Previous  Ailments.  Ailments  suffered  from  in  our  19 
cases  after  the  early  developmental  period  amount  to 
very  little.  The  several  gynecological  troubles  have 
been  mentioned  above  under  the  head  of  Physical 
Conditions.  In  one  other  case  there  had  been  urethri- 
tis  previously.  Head  injuries,  which  play  such  a 
significant  part  in  the  study  of  criminalistics,  find  no 
place  in  our  mentally  normal  series,  but  should  always 
be  kept  in  mind  in  considering  the  border-line  types. 
Epilepsy  as  a  possible  factor  in  criminalistic  problem 
cases  is  to  be  remembered. 

Habits.  We  have  already  mentioned  the  effect  upon 
nervous  conditions  of  excessive  tea  and  coffee  in  two  of 
our  cases.  Masturbation,  including  its  indirect  effect, 
particularly  upon  the  psyche,  appears  to  be  a  very  im- 
portant feature  of  these  cases.  We  should  be  far  from 
considering  that  we  have  full  data  on  all  of  our  c 
and  yet  this  stands  out  most  strongly.  We  have  had 
positive  reports  from  relatives  or  from  the  individuals 
showing  this  certainly  to  be  a  factor  in  7  out  of  the  19 
cases.  This  is  a  very  large  finding,  when  it  is  considered 
that  the  data  are  frequently  unobtainable.  Of  course 
we  are  not  speaking  here  of  masturbation  per  sc,  but 


CONCLUSIONS  261 

only  of  the  fact  of  its  ascertained  relationship  to  the 
pathological  lying.  This  is  only  part  of  the  whole  matter 
of  sex  experience  which,  we  find  upon  gathering  our 
material  together,  plays  such  an  enormous  role. 

Age  of  Onset.  It  is  very  easy  to  see  that  the  tendency 
to  pathological  lying  begins  in  the  early  formative  years.  ^ 
Common-sense  observation  of  general  character  build- 
ing would  tend  to  make  us  readily  believe  that  if  an 
individual  got  through  the  formative  years  of  life  with 
a  normal  hold  upon  veracity  he  would  never  be- 
come a  pathological  liar.  We  can  see  definite  be- 
ginnings at  certain  critically  formative  periods,  as  in 
Case  6  and  perhaps  in  Case  3,  but  our  material  shows 
that  most  cases  demonstrate  more  gradually  insidious 
beginnings.  (Case  21  is  in  this  respect  in  a  class  by 
itself.)  As  we  stated  in  our  introduction,  it  is  clear 
from  the  previous  studies  of  older  individuals  that  the 
nature  of  the  beginnings  were  not  learned  because  it 
was  too  late.  Our  material  offers  unusual  opportuni- 
ties in  this  direction  and  shows  the  fact  of  genesis  in 
childhood  most  clearly.  For  specific  and  often  most 
interesting  details  we  refer  the  reader  to  our  various 
case  histories. 

Sex.  Our  findings  show  only  1  male  out  of  19  men- 
tally normal  cases.  A  general  observation  by  practical 
students  of  conduct,  namely,  that  females  tend  to 
deviate  from  the  truth  more  readily  than  males,  is  more 
than  thoroughly  borne  out  here.  There  are  certainly 
several  social  and  psychological  reasons  for  this,  but 
they  need  not  J»e  gone  into  here.  If  our  figures  seem 
not  to  be  corroborated  by  the  findings  of  previous 
students  it  is  c  ily  because  the  figures  are  not  compar- 
able —  the  latter  have  mixed  the  mentally  abnormal 
with  the  pathological  liars  proper.  It  will  be  noted 


262  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

that  in  our  examples  of  border-line  cases  5  out  of  the  8 
are  males.  Cases  of  pathological  swindling  by  mentally 
abnormal  individuals,  such  as  we  have  avoided,  make  up 
much  of  the  foreign  literature.  We  can  easily  see  that 
the  social  opportunities  for  swindling  are  vastly  greater 
for  males  than  those  offered  to  the  opposite  gex.  Sex 
differences,  as  in  many  instances,  must  not  be  taken  here 
too  seriously  because  social  environment,  differing  so 
greatly  for  the  sexes,  is  largely  responsible  for  the  be- 
havior which  we  superficially  judge  to  be  entirely  the 
expression  of  innate  characteristics. 

Environment.  We  are  far  from  feeling  that  a  mere 
enumeration  of  material  environmental  conditions  tells 
the  story  of  environmental  influences  important  for 
our  present  subject.  The  psyche  is  frequently  most 
profoundly  affected  by  environmental  conditions  which 
even  a  trained  observer  would  not  detect.  But  con- 
ditions in  the  total  number  of  unselected  cases  show 
something,  and,  for  whatever  it  is  worth,  we  offer  the 
following  enumeration  of  environment  in  our  19  normal 
cases,  who  with  much  more  reason  might  be  expected  to 
be  largely  influenced  by  surroundings  than  our  group 
of  border-line  cases. 

Reasonably  good  home  from  birth 5 

Defective  home  conditions  through  poverty    ....  2 

Very  ignorant  parents 2 

Immoralities  in  home  life 6 

Marked  defect  in  parental  control 6 

Very  erratic  home  conditions  —  parent  abnormal     .     .  I 

Early  Mental  Experiences.  As  will  have  been  ob- 
served by  the  reader  in  going  over  the  case  histories, 
the  early  mental  experiences  of  many  of  our  group  of 
mentally  normal  pathological  liars  have  been  shock- 


CONCLUSIONS  263 

ingly  bad.  Full  appreciation  of  this  can  only  be  gained 
through  perusal  of  the  text,  but  here  we  may  call 
attention  to  the  fact  that  no  less  than  8  of  the  19  have 
had  very  early  untoward  sex  experiences,  that  5  were 
markedly  under  the  influence  of  bad  companions,  in- 
cluding even  the  influence  in  one  or  two  cases  of  vicious 
grown  people.  The  sex  experiences  we  have  just 
enumerated  were  received  through  others  —  we  are 
not  here  speaking  of  masturbation,  which  is  discussed 
above. 

Psychic  Contagion.  Direct  contagion  of  the  tendency 
to  lie  seems  more  than  likely  to  take  place,  at  least 
during  the  more  plastic  periods  of  life.  It  may  be 
that  this  only  develops  when  there  is  some  sort  of 
predisposition  to  instability;  our  related  findings  on 
defective  heredity  would  seem  to  indicate  the  fact. 
It  should  be  noted  that  in  5  instances  out  of  our  19 
mentally  normal  (Cases  2,  4,  6,  8,  20)  some  other 
member  of  the  household,  we  learned  from  reliable 
sources,  was  known  as  a  chronic  prevaricator. 

Mental  Conflicts.  The  fact  that  several  of  our  cases 
started  lying  from  the  time  when  there  occurred  some 
experience  accompanied  by  a  deep  emotional  context, 
and  that  this  experience  and  the  emotion  was  re- 
pressed, seems  to  point  clearly  to  the  part  which  re- 
pressed mental  life  may  play  in  the  genesis.  That  as 
children  they  kept  to  themselves  secrets  of  grave  im- 
port and  dwelled  long  on  them,  shows  in  a  large  number 
of  our  cases.  Anything  deeply  upsetting,  such  as  the 
discovery  of  the  facts  of  sex  life  or  questions  about 
family  relationships,  are  the  incidents  which  cause  the 
trouble.  For  students  of  modern  psychology  nothing 
more  need  be  said  on  this  point  —  the  concrete  issues 
are  perceivable  in  the  case  histories. 


264  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

Adolescence.  Quite  apart  from  the  age  of  onset,  we 
may  consider  the  physical  and  psychical  instabilities  of 
adolescence  as  effective  causes  of  pathological  lying. 
Of  course  it  is  equally  true  that  many  other  tendencies 
to  peculiarity  are  accentuated  at  this  period.  It  has 
been  suggested  that  cases  which  have  their  origin 
largely  in  the  unstable  reactions  of  adolescence  have 
much  the  better  prognosis,  but  it  seems  that  not  enough 
evidence  has  been  accumulated  as  yet  to  justify  us 
in  this  conclusion,  which,  we  acknowledge,  may  prove 
to  be  true. 

Irritative  Conditions.  In  the  same  way  the  various 
types  of  irritative  conditions,  physical  and  mental, 
may  be  considered  as  exciting  moments.  Individuals 
with^a  tendency  to  pathological  lying  will  no  doubt 
show  aggravation  of  the  phenomenon  at  periods  of 
particular  stress.  We  have  heard  it  suggested  in 
several  cases  by  relatives  that  the  menstrual  period, 
for  instance,  brings  about  an  access  of  tendency  to 
prevarication.  We  would  grant  the  point  without 
conceding  this  exciting  factor  to  be  a  fundamental 
cause.  (Case  21,  we  may  say  again,  illustrates  a  special 
fact.)  The  periodicity  which  Stemmermaim  makes 
much  of  may  merely  mean  succumbing  during  a  period 
of  physiologic  stress.  Social  stress  also  may  be  met 
by  pathological  lying,  in  the  same  way  that  the  indi- 
vidual who  finds  himself  in  a  tight  place  may  attempt 
to  get  out  of  it  by  running  away.  We  have  already 
spoken  of  the  likeness  of  social  and  physical  stress  as 
showing  when  the  weak  individual  is  brought  to  bay. 
That  pathological  lying  does  not  run  an  even  course, 
but  shows  remarkable  fluctuations  with  powerful  exacer- 
bations, is  undoubtedly  to  be  explained  by  changes  of 
inner  and  outer  stress. 


CONCLUSIONS  265 

Habit  Formation.  The  influence  of  habit  in  causing 
chronicity  must  always  be  definitely  reckoned  with. 
It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  more  than  a  word  on  this 
subject.  Even  the  individual,  as  in  Cases  8,  9,  and  10, 
comes  to  strongly  realize  it.  Particularly  is  this  point 
to  be  estimated  in  considering  the  possibilities  of  a 
rapid  cure. 

Special  Mental  Abilities.  Once  more,  for  the  sake  of 
completeness  in  giving  a  category  of  causes,  we  should 
call  attention  to  the  fact  acknowledged  by  all  thorough 
students  of  this  subject,  namely,  that,  other  things 
being  equal,  it  is  particularly  the  individual  who  has 
linguistic  abilities,  who  is  especially  good  at  verbal 
composition,  that  seems  to  have  most  incentive  to 
dally  with  the  truth.  But  beyond  this  we  would  insist 
that  a  combination  of  verbal  ability  with  proportionate 
mental  defects  in  other  fields  gives  a  make-up  which 
finds  the  paths  of  least  resistance  directly  along  the 
lines  of  prevarication. 

SOCIAL  CORRELATIONS 

The  role  played  in  society  by  the  pathological  liar 
is  very  striking.  The  characteristic  behavior  in  its 
unreasonableness  is  quite  beyond  the  ken  of  the  or- 
dinary observer.  The  fact  that  here  is  a  type  of  con- 
duct regularly  indulged  in  without  seeming  pleasur- 
able results,  and  frequently  militating  obviously 
against  the  direct  interests  of  the  individual,  makes 
a  situation  inexplicable  vv  the  usual  canons  of  infer- 
ence. To  a  certain  e  fhe  tendencies  of  each 
separate  case  must  b^  .  in  their  environmental 
context  to  be  well  cood.  For  example,  the 
lying  and  swindling  ^nter  about  the  assumption 


266  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

of  a  noble  name  and  a  corresponding  station  or  affect- 
ing the  life  of  a  cloister  brother,  such  as  we  find  in  the 
cases  cited  by  Longard,  show  great  differences  from 
any  material  obtainable  in  our  country.  In  interpre- 
tation of  this,  one  has  to  consider  the  glamour  thrown 
about  the  socially  exalted  or  the  life  of  the  recluse  — 
a  glamour  which  obtains  readily  among  the  simple- 
minded  people  of  rural  Europe,  Then,  too,  this  very 
simple-mindedness,  with  the  great  differences  which 
exist  between  peasant  and  noble,  leads  in  itself  to  much 
opportunity  for  cheating. 

With  us,  especially  in  the  newer  work  of  courts,  which 
are  rapidly  becoming  in  their  various  social  endeavors 
more  and  more  intimately  connected  with  many  pli; 
of  life,  the  pathological  liar  becomes  of  main  interest 
in  the  role  of  accuser  of  others,  self -accuser,  witn< 
and  general  social  disturber. 

Here  again,  we  may  call  attention  to  the  fact,  which 
is  of  great  social  importance,  namely,  that  the  person 
who  is  seemingly  normal  in  all  other  respects  may  be 
a  pathological  liar.]  It  might  be  naturally  expected 
that  the  feebleminded,  who  frequently  have  poor  dis- 
cernment of  the  relation  of  cause  and  effect,  including 
the  phenomena  of  conduct,  would  often  lie  without  nor- 
mal cause.  As  a  matter  of  fact  there  is  surprisin 
little  of  this  among  them,  and  one  can  find  numerous 
mental  defectives  who  are  faithful  tellers  of  the  truth, 
while  even,  as  we  have  found  by  other  studies,  some 
are  good  testifiers.  Exaggerated  instances  of  the 
type  represented  by  Case  12,  where  the  individual  by 
the  virtue  of  language  ability  endeavors  to  maintain 
a  place  in  the  world  which  his  abilities  do  not  otherwise 
justify,  and  where  the  very  contradiction  between 
abilities  and  disabilities  leads  to  the  development  of 


CONCLUSIONS  267 

an  excessive  habit  of  lying,  are  known  in  considerable 
number  by  us.  Many  of  these  mentally  defective 
verbalists  do  not  even  grade  high  enough  to  come  in 
our  border-line  cases,  and  yet  frequently,  by  virtue 
of  their  gift  of  language,  the  world  in  general  considers 
them  fairly  normal.  They  are  really  on  a  constant  * 
social  strain  by  virtue  of  this,  and  while  they  are  not 
purely  pathological  liars  they  often  indulge  in  patho- 
logical lying,  a  distinction  we  have  endeavored  to  make 
clear  in  our  introduction. 

It  stands  out  very  clearly,  both  in  previous  studies 
of  this  subject  and  in  viewing  our  own  material,  that 
pathological  lying  is  very  rarely  the  single  offense  of 
the  pathological  liar.|  The  characteristics  of  this  lying 
show  that  it  arises  from  a  tendency  which  might  easily 
express  itself  in  other  forms  of  misrepresentation. 
Swindling,  sometimes  stealing,  sometimes  running 
away  from  home  (assuming  another  character  and 
perhaps  another  name)  may  be  the  results  of  the  same 
general  causes  in  the  individual.  The  extent  to  which 
these  other  delinquencies  are  carried  on  by  a  patho- 
logical liar  depends  again  largely  upon  environmental 
conditions  —  for  instance,  truancy  is  very  difficult  in 
German  cities ;  a  long  career  of  thieving,  under  the 
better  police  surveillance  of  some  European  countries, 
is  less  possible  than  with  us;  while  swindling,  for  the 
reason  given  above,  seems  easier  there. 

Running  away  from  home  and  itineracy  show  in  a  • 
wonderfully  strong  correlation  with  pathological  lying, 
both  in  previous  studies  and  in  our  own  material. 
Several  authors,  particularly  Stemmerniann  in  her 
survey  of  the  subject,  comment  on  this.  This  phenom- 
enon, not  only  on  account  of  the  numerical  findings, 
but  also  from  a  logical  standpoint,  is  easily  seen  to  be 


208 


PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 


the  expression,  in  another  form  of  conduct,  of  the  essen- 
tial tendencies  of  the  pathological  liar.  It  is  part  of 
the  general  character  instability,  the  unwillingness 
to  meet  the  realities  of  life,  the  inclination  to  escape 
consequences.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  frequently  the 
pathological  liar  gets  himself  in  a  tight  place  by  lying, 
and  then  the  easiest  escape  is  by  running  away  from 
the  scene.  The  delinquencies  of  our  present  group 
as  given  below  can  with  profit  be  compared  with  our 
previous  statistics l  on  a  large  group  of  offenders.  We 
gathered  the  facts  concerning  a  series  of  1000  care- 
fully studied  youthful  repeated  offenders.  Of  694 
male  offenders,  261  were  guilty  of  running  away  to 
the  extent  that  it  made  a  more  or  less  serious  offense. 
Of  306  female  offenders,  76  committed  the  same  type 
of  offense.  For  comparison  with  the  present  group  it 
is  to  be  remembered  that  18  out  of  the  19  mentally 
normal  pathological  liars  were  females. 


NORMAL. 

BORDER-LINE 

Running  away  

12 

6 

Stealing    

7 

6 

Swindling      

7 

2 

Vagrancy       

0 

4 

Attempt  at  suicide      

0 

2 

Sex  offenses        

8 

1 

FaNe  accusations   

10 

4 

Self-accusations      

3 

2 

Abortion 

1 

0 

We  have  given  figures  on  false  accusations  here,  includ- 
ing other  cases  than  were  enumerated  in  our  special  chap- 

1  P.  140  if.     William  Ilcaly.     "The  Individual  Delinquent."     Pp.  830. 
Boston:  Little,  Brown,  and  Co.     1915. 


CONCLUSIONS  269 

ter  on  the  subject.  In  that  chapter  the  center  of  interest 
was  on  the  false  accusations,  but  it  is  true  that  in  cer- 
tain other  cases  of  pathological  lying  false  accusations 
were  indulged  in  as  a  somewhat  minor  offense.  The  9 
cases  enumerated  as  swindlers  showed  this  offense  in 
varying  degrees,  as  might  naturally  be  expected  by 
the  differences  in  ages,  which,  if  nothing  else,  makes  for 
variations  in  the  evolution  of  social  and  character 
tendencies.  Perusal  of  the  cases  shows  the  small 
beginnings  as  well  as  the  flagrant  offenses  on  this  order. 
As  we  previously  have  stated,  we  have  avoided  dealing 
with  the  older  careers  of  notorious  swindlers.  The 
nature  of  the  sex  offenses  can  be  learned  from  the  case 
histories  by  those  who  wish  to  make  special  inquiry. 
Masturbation  we  have  regarded  more  as  a  causative 
factor,  and  have  spoken  of  it  in  a  previous  section. 
Truancy  we  have  not  enumerated.  It  goes  without 
saying  that  it  had  been  indulged  in  by  practically  all 
of  the  males  and  by  a  considerable  number  of  the 
females  in  our  cases. 

The  observer  of  delinquents  cannot  help  being 
constantly  impressed  by  the  fact  that  the  offense  of 
lying  seems  to  the  usual  offender  small  in  proportion 
to  the  commission  of  other  criminalistic  deeds.  Partic- 
ularly does  this  come  out  when  one  observes  the  chronic 
liar  growing  up  in  a  household  where  grave  sex  and 
other  delinquencies  are  habitual  occurrences.  Should 
his  lying  be  compared  with  these  major  anti-social 
transactions  ?  Indeed,  it  might  be  a  field  for  specula- 
tion as  to  whether,  given  certain  qualities  of  mind, 
imaginative  powers,  etc.,  pathological  lying  may  not 
play  the  part  of  a  vicarious  delinquency  —  being 
to  the  delinquent  apparently  less  pernicious  than  more 
objective  offenses.  In  our  case  histories  may  be  seen 
some  indications  of  this. 


270  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

PROGNOSIS.    TREATMENT 

In  discussing  prognosis  and  treatment  we  can  elimi- 
nate at  once  consideration  of  pathological  lying  by 
the  insane.  The  outcome  there  depends  upon  what 
can  be  done  for  the  underlying  psychosis.  We 
have  avoided  intimate  discussion  of  these  cases,  but 
many  suggestions  of  the  unalterableness  of  the  full- 
fledged  tendencies  among  the  insane  are  found  in  the 
European  literature  cited  by  us.  Even  discussion  of 
the  outcome  of  the  border-line  cases,  such  as  we  have 
given  examples  of,  needs  but  short  shrift.  Everyone 
knows  the  extreme  difficulties  of  dealing  with  constitu- 
tional inferiors;  marked  cases  are  socially  fit  only  for 
proper  colonization.  The  epileptic,  in  default  of  cure 
of  his  disease,  is  ever  going  to.be  prone  to  many  peculiar 
mental  states  which  may  involve  pathological  lying. 
The  slight  mental  confusion  of  chorea,  which  may  lead 
to  false  accusation,  as  we  have  seen  in  Case  23,  is  one 
of  the  most  curable  of  all  abnormal  mental  states. 
With  proper  attention  to  diagnosis  and  treatment, 
favorable  outcome  of  cases  of  hysteria,  such  as  that  in 
Case  24,  is  frequently  seen.  Another  type  which  can- 
not be  handled  except  by  permanent  segregation  is 
the  thoroughly  aberrational  and  socially  dangerous 
class  represented  by  Case  25,  however  one  designates 
the  type.  Much  more,  undoubtedly,  can  be  done  for 
such  a  border-line  individual  as  Case  12,  if  there  is 
sufficient  coftperation  among  educational  and  reforma- 
tory institutions  and  the  courts.  It  has  seemed  to  us 
that  the  chief  cause  of  failure  in  this  interesting  case 
has  been  the  fact  that  this  young  man  could  go  on 
entering  new  social  situations  and  finding  new  worlds 
for  exploitation  because  no  one  had  the  means  at  hand 


CONCLUSIONS  271 

for  securing  facts  concerning  his  past  or  for  ascertaining 
what  any  good  diagnostician  could  easily  perceive  to 
be  his  limitations  and  tendencies. 

Very  much  more  to  the  point  is  consideration  of  the 
actual  and  possible  outcome  in  cases  of  pathological 
lying  by  normal  individuals.  Here,  as  in  other  mat- 
ters where  bodily,  mental,  and  social  issues  are  blended, 
no  prognosis  or  outlook  can  be  rationally  offered  with- 
out consideration  of  possible  changes  in  the  circum- 
stances peculiar  to  the  given  case.  First  and  foremost 
stands  out  the  fact  that  cure  of  the  tendency  some- 
times happens  even  after  long  giving  way  to  it.  In 
this  statement  we  are  not  contradictory  to  some 
previous  writers. 

As  Stemmermann  says,  out  of  the  general  literature 
there  is  not  much  from  which  one  can  deduce  any 
principles  of  prognosis.  But,  again,  we  would  insist 
that  one  of  the  great  weaknesses  has  been  that  earlier 
studies  have  not  carefully  distinguished  between  the 
mentally  normal  and  the  abnormal  cases  of  pseudologia 
phantastica.  When,  for  instance,  Forel  speaks  of 
pathological  liars  as  being  constitutionally  abnormal 
individuals  who  are  not  curable,  he  fails  to  differentiate 
where  profitable  differentiation  can  be  made.  If  our 
own  work  is  of  any  practical  value  it  is  in  offering  safer 
grounds  for  prognosis  and  treatment.  Stemmermann 
summarizes  well  her  follow-up  work  done  upon  cases 
seen  years  previously  by  other  observers.  Some  of 
these  are  still  in  institutions.  After  a  period  of  well- 
doing several  of  these  have  become  backsliders  and 
reverted  again  to  lying  and  swindling.  Very  few  appear 
to  have  been  cured,  but  yet  some  of  the  facts  of  better- 
ment are  most  convincing.  This  author  states  that, 
at  the  most,  one  dares  to  ponder  over  the  point  as  to 


272  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

whether  there  are  not  cases  which  recover,  particularly 
when  the  pathological  lying  is  a  phenomenon  of  ado- 
lescence. 

Our  own  material  is,  in  part,  too  recently  studied 
to  form  anything  like  a  generalization  concerning 
prognosis.  Many  years  have  to  elapse  before  one 
can  be  sure  there  is  not  going  to  be  a  recurrence.  But 
one  is  not  altogether  certain  that  prognostic  generali- 
zations are  of  practical  worth  for  this  group  of  mentally 
normal  pathological  liars.  So  many  incidental  factors 
of  physical,  mental,  and  social  life,  with  all  of  the  com- 
plicated background  of  the  same,  come  in  to  make  the 
total  result,  that  experiment  and  trial  with  the  individ- 
ual case,  while  hesitating  to  give  an  exact  prognosis, 
is  perhaps  the  only  sane  procedure.  What  we  do 
know  definitely  is  the  immensely  favorable  out< 
in  Cases  1,  4,  7,  19,  and  the  promising  betterment  in 
several  other  instances  —  all  in  direct  contradiction 
to  what  we  had  expected  from  survey  of  previous  litera- 
ture. In  several  of  these  cases  the  years  1  <  l,y 
with  nothing  but  steady  improvement.  The  difficulty 
in  getting  adequate  treatment,  either  in  home  life  or  by 
the  necessary  individual  attention  elsewhere,  makes  it 
impossible  to  say  that  many  of  the  others  also  could 
not  have  been  favorably  influenced.  Frequently  a 
total  alteration  of  environmental  conditions  is  n< 
sary,  and  this,  of  course,  is  often  very  difficult  to  ob- 
tain. 1  Also  it  is  extremely  rare  that  one  can  get  the 
whole  matter,  and  its  sure  social  consequences,  fairly 
and  squarely  met  by  anybody  with  influence  over  the 
individual.  Until  this  can  be  done,  little  in  the  way 
of  good  results  may  ever  be  expected.  The  splendid 
attack  made  by  relatives  or  others  upon  the  situation 
in  Cases  1,  4,  7,  possibly  14,  and  19  tells  the  story  of 


CONCLUSIONS  273 

the  prime  necessity  for  adequate  handling  of  patho- 
logical lying. 

Specific  treatment  of  physical  conditions  should 
always  be  undertaken  when  necessary.  It  should  go 
without  saying  that  any  individual  who  is  open  to  the 
temptations  of  inner  stress  should  be  strengthened  at 
all  points  possible  and  relieved  from  all  sources  of  irri- 
tation./ But,  lest  anyone  should  become  too  much 
persuaded  of  the  efficacy  of  surgical  or  other  treatment, 
it  should  be  remembered  that  the  psychical  reactions^, j 
even  where  there  is  physical  irritation,  involve  the 
definite  wearing  of  neural  paths,  with  habit  formations, 
which  bodily  treatment  can  only  slightly  alter.  An 
enticing  problem  to  the  gynecologist  is  always  the 
relationship  of  pelvic,  particularly  sexual  irritations,  to 
conduct.  We  cannot  confirm  the  idea  of  a  prime 
causal  connection  in  this  particular,  although  we  have 
evidence  that  betterment  of  the  physical  ailment  may 
lead  to  less  inclination  towards  the  unfortunate  be- 
havior. In  Case  1  the  lying  came  long  before  pelvic 
disease  was  acquired,  but  very  likely  the  irritation 
of  the  latter  led  to  an  accentuation  of  the  psychical 
phenomena.  In  Case  6  the  typical  conduct  was  per- 
sisted in  after  remedy  of  the  pelvic  disorder;  so  also 
in  Case  3  after  relief  of  abdominal  conditions,  and  in 
Case  21  after  cessation  of  pregnancy.  Other  points 
bearing  upon  this  may  be  read  in  our  case  histories. 
On  the  general  problem  of  the  possibility  of  physical 
treatment  it  will  be  noted  that  a  considerable  share  of 
all  our  cases  were  in  good  general  condition. 

In  discussing  treatment  great  emphasis  should  be 
placed  upon  the  primary  necessity  for  directly  meeting 
the  pathological  liar  upon  the  level  of  the  moral  failures 
and  making  it  plain  that  these  are  known  and  under- 


274  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

stood.  It  is  very  certain  that  frequently  this  type  of 
prevaricator  has  very  little  conception  of  the  social 
antagonism  which  his  habit  arouses.  There  is  faulty 
apperception  of  how  others  feel  towards  the  lying,  and 
to  what  depths  the  practice  of  this  habit  leads.  Appre- 
ciation of  these  facts  may  be  the  first  step  towards 
betterment.  In  several  of  the  improved  cases  we  have 
mentioned  that  it  was  largely  the  acquirement  of  social 
foresight  which  made  the  first  step  in  a  moral  advance 
which  finally  won  the  day.  In  this  whole  matter  the 
first  ethical  instruction  may  well  be  based  upon  the 
idea  of  self-preservation  j—  after  all  the  backbone  of 
much  of  our  morals.  When  it  comes  to  specific  de- 
tails of  treatment  these  must  be  educational, /alterative,] 
and  constructive.)  In  Cases  1  and  3  under  treatment 
we  know  that  when  the  lying  was  discovered  or  sus- 
pected the  individual  was  at  once  checked  up  and 
made  to  go  over  the  ground  and  state  the  real  facts. 
The  pathological  liar  ordinarily  reacts  to  the  accusa- 
tion of  lying  by  prevaricating  again  in  self-def- 
but  when  with  the  therapeutist  there  has  been  the 
understanding  that  the  tendency  to  lying  is  a  habit 
which  it  is  necessary  to  break,  the  barricade  of  self- 
defense  may  not  be  thrown  up.  An  alterative  measure 
of  great  value,  then,  is  directly  to  meet  the  specific 
lie  on  the  spot,  as  it  were,  when  it  is  told.  / 

Next,  accuracy  of  report  may  well  be  practiced  as  a 
special  discipline.  In  these  normal  cases  we  have  seen 
that  there  could  be  little  doubt  about  the  individual 
having  self-control  enough  to  stick  to  the  truth,  if  the 
will  was  properly  directed.  Indeed,  many  of  our  cases 
were  exceptionally  bright  individuals  with  many  good 
powers  of  observation  and  memory.  Had  one  the 
opportunity,  there  can  be  little  doubt  but  that  training 


CONCLUSIONS  275 

in  the  power  to  do  well  on  such  a  test  as  that  afforded 
by  the  "Aussage"  picture  would  have  yielded  good 
results.  Indeed,  there  is  some  suggestion  of  this  in  our 
table  of  findings  on  this  test,  where  we  note  that  patho- 
logical liars,  when  left  merely  to  themselves  and  their 
first  often  comparatively  meagre  report  on  the  picture, 
give  few  incorrect  details.  The  difference  in  their 
report  as  compared  with  other  observers  of  the  picture 
was  found  when  they  answered  questions.  Since  this 
is  the  case,  there  can  be  little  question  that  training  in 
the  power  to  respond  accurately  might  be  gained. 

It  may  be  of  value  in  considering  therapeutics  of 
pathological  lying  to  enumerate  the  general  run  of 
treatment  which  was  carried  out  in  those  instances 
where  we  know  that  betterment  took  place.  Nearly 
always  only  a  part  of  what  we  advised  could  be  carried 
out,  but,  even  so,  a  brief  statement  of  the  conditions 
under  which  betterment  was  accomplished  seems  worth 
much. 

Case  1  was  treated  first  in  an  institution  for  delinquents 
where  every  effort  was  made  to  cure  her  disease  and  where 
she  was  taught  to  employ  herself  in  constructive  work. 
It  was  found  she  had  ability  to  design,  and  this  was 
used  to  the  utmost.  Then  her  lying  tendencies  were 
checked  by  social  disapprobation  as  much  as  possible. 
A  special  effort  was  made  toward  this.  The  girl  was 
undoubtedly  made  more  serious-minded  by  the  after- 
effects of  her  experience  and  perhaps  by  her  disease. 
She  was  later  successfully  handled  at  home  by  her 
sensible  mother.  Leaving  the  years  of  adolescent 
instability  behind  her  was  also  undoubtedly  a  factor 
in  betterment. 

Case  4  was  taken  in  hand  by  a  sterling  character 
who  restrained  very  carefully  the  tendency  to  lying, 


276  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

and  by  firm  methods  showed  her  the  social  advan- 
tages of  self-control  in  this  respect.  At  the  same 
time  she  was  given  a  vastly  better  environment,  par- 
ticularly in  the  matter  of  her  friends.  However,  there 
is  little  doubt  that  nothing  would  have  been  accom- 
plished in  this  case  without  first  a  deep  understanding 
of  the  girl's  troubles  and  of  her  mental  conflicts. 

Case  7  was  treated  for  her  sex  difficulties  under  the 
constant  care  of  a  vigorous  mother,  who  first,  naturally, 
had  to  gain  an  understanding  of  the  case.  With  her 
bettered  physical  and  mental  conditions,  the  girl  was 
able  steadily  to  hold  a  position  for  which  earlier  she  had 
no  capacity. 

Betterment  in  Case  14  came  about  mainly  as  the 
result  of  an  understanding  of  the  child's  mental  con- 
flicts and  somewhat  through  partially  bettered  environ- 
mental conditions.  We  learned  lately  that  the  seven- 
visual  defect  had  been  neglected. 

In  Case  15  the  false  aecusations  were  made  upon 
the  basis  of  mental  conflict.  Investigation  of  the  ease. 
followed  by  the  personal  services  of  a  probation  oil  ice  r 
and  by  the  legal  proceedings,  served  to  clear  up  condi- 
tions, including  those  of  the  family  in  general,  so  that 
the  girl  was  given  a  great  or  chance  for  success. 

Case  19  seems  to  have  been  largely  cured  through 
the  girl  herself  being  able  to  work  out  her  mental 
conflicts.  Adolescence  was  a  factor  and  she 
tided  over  this  period  in  a  good  environment  and  with 
friends  who  understood  her  type  of  case  and  who  were 
willing  to  put  up  with  her  aberrancies  for  this  time. 
Although  we  would  not  minimize  the  efforts  of  stalwart 
friends,  we  may  say  that  there  were  more  evidences 
of  cure  by  self-help  in  this  case  than  in  any  other  wo 
have  seen. 


CONCLUSIONS  277 

Lest  we  should  seem  to  be  placing  too  much  emphasis 
upon  adolescence,  with  the  idea  that  the  mere  passing 
of  that  period  will  lead  to  change  in  behavior,  we  cite 
Cases  3,  5,  and  6,  where  the  addition  of  years  has 
brought  no  betterment.  In  neither  of  these  was  the 
essential  nature  of  the  difficulty  explored  during  earlier 
troublous  periods. 

An  interesting  consideration  for  treatment  is  em- 
bodied in  the  rational  idea  of  utilizingjhe_special 
powers,  so  that  there  may  be  ample  gratification  in 
self-expression,  and  in  use  of  the  imagination.  Through 
this  new  satisfaction  there  may  be  a  mental  swerving 
from  the  previous  paths  strewn  with  pitfalls.  The 
inclination  to  verbal  composition,  already  spoken  of 
as  existing  in  so  many  cases,  may  be  utilized,  and 
imagination  be  given  full  sway  in  harmless  directions. 
It  seems  likely  that  just  this  deliberate  practice  may 
serve  to  more  clearly  demarcate  truth  from  falsehood 
in  the  individual's  mind.  Unfortunately  we  have 
had  too  little  actual  proof  of  the  value  of  this  method, 
some  cases  being  worked  on  now  are  too  recent  for 
report,  but  there  is  plenty  of  indication  of  the  possi- 
bilities. Had  we  been  able  to  control  environment 
better,  much  more  of  this  type  of  work  would  have 
been  carried  out. 

A  favorable  outcome  through  this  constructive 
treatment  based  upon  utilizing  the  characteristic  lin- 
guistic powers  of  the  pathological  liar,  is  witnessed  to 
by  Stemmermann  in  her  story  of  Delbriick's  G.  N. 
In  the  history  of  this  case  a  delightful  note  of  comedy 
is  struck.  G.  N.  was  found  to  be  a  man  of  consider- 
able literary  ability.  He  had  been  observed  over  the 
period  of  13  years.  After  he  was  first  studied  he 
twice  managed  to  go  3  years  without  succumbing  to 


278  PATHOLOGICAL  LYING 

his  falsifying  tendencies,  and  then  found  .his  chance 
for  leading  a  blameless  life  by  becoming  a  newspaper 
man.  In  fact,  he  reached  an  honored  place  as  an 
editor.  Stemmermann  suggests,  naively,  that  perhaps 
this  calling  is  especially  calculated  to  give  the  talents 
correlated  with  pseudologia  phantastica  space  for 
free  play,  so  that  the  individual's  special  abilities  may 
not  come  in  conflict  with  the  law,  or  with  social  cus- 
toms, and,  on  the  other  hand,  may  be  utilized  in  fruitful 
pursuits. 

All  together,  one  would  certainly  advise  every  effort 
bring  made  towards  specifically  stabilizing  the  patho- 
logical liar  in  the  matter  of  truth-telling  —  by  checking 
the  springs  of  misconduct,  and  by  diverting  energies 
and  talents  into  their  most  suitable  channels.  The 
problem  must  ever  be  one  for  individual  therapy. 
Failures  of  treatment  there  may  be,  but  from  our  study 
we  are  much  inclined  to  believe  that  well-calculated, 
constructive  efforts  will  achieve  goodly  success  among 
those  who  are  mentally  normal. 


INDEXES 


INDEX  OF  AUTHORS 


BELLETRUD,  38 
BRESLER,  JOHANNES,  35 

CROTHERS,  T.  D.,  220 

DELBRUCK,  A.,  14,  25,  277 
DUPRAT,  G.-L.,  4 

FERRIANI,  LINO,  4,  10 
FOREL,  38,  271 

GROSS,  HANS,  162 

HALL,  G.  STANLEY,  4 
HEALY,  WILLIAM,  5,  220,  268 
HEALY,  WILLIAM,  and  FERNALD, 

GRACE  M.,  11 
HENNEBERG,  32 
HINRICHSEN,  25 

JORGER,  32 


KELLER,  25 

KOELLE,  TH.,  38,  note 

KOPPEN,  19 

LONGARD,  36 

MERCIER,  38 
MEUNIER,  41 

Risen,  BERNARD,  20 
ROUMA,  39 

SPAULDING,  EDITH  R.,  and 
HEALY,  WILLIAM,  259 

STEMMERMANN,  ANNA,  26,  250, 
271,  277 

VOGT,  24 
WENDT,  33 

WULFFEN,  E.,  2 


281 


INDEX  OF  TOPICS 


ABERRATIONAL  CASES  not  de- 
finitively insane,  218,  233 

Accessory  to  murder,  false  self- 
accusation  of,  233 

Accusations,  pathological,  Bres- 
ler's  classification  of,  35 

Adolescence,  264,  277 

Adolf  von  X.,  case  of,  143 

Age  of  onset  of  pathological 
lying,  261 

Amanda  R.,  case  of,  127 

Annie  F.,  case  of,  204 

Apperception,  lack  of,  in  certain 
cases,  49,  63, 100, 103, 187,  241 

Attitude,  strong,  of  pathological 
liars,  see  POISE 

"Aussage,"  psychology  of,  11 

"Aussage"  Test,  12,  253.  Also 
see  TESTIMONY  TEST 


BESSIE  M.,  CASE  OF,  182 

Betterment,  conditions  of  in 
special  cases,  275 

Betterment,  possibilities  of,  as 
evidenced  by  individual  cases, 
49,  52,  91,  117,  181,  202 

Beula  D.,  case  of,  50 

-Birdie  M.,  case  of,  220 


CASES 

Case  1 

"  2 

"  3 

"  4 


.  page  43 

"  50 

.  "  54 

"  81 


CASES,  continued 
Case    5    . 


7 
8 
9 
10 
11 
12 
13 
14 
15 
16 
17 
18 
19 
20 
21 
22 
23 
24 
25 


26  . 


page  93 

"  97 

"  114 

"  117 

"  126 

"  134 

"  140 

"  142 

"  163 

"  172 

"  178 

"  182 

"  188 

"  195 

"  198 

"  203 

"  214 

"  220 

"  225 

"  228 

"  233 

"  240 


"  27  ....      246 

Chorea,  psychosis  of,  case  of,  225 

Choreic  psychosis,  251 

Constitutional  excitement,  251, 
case  of,  220 

Constitutional  inferior,  The,  251 

Constitutional  inferiority,  case 
of,  188,  241 

Contagion  of  lying,  263 

Conversational  ability  of  path- 
ological liars,  see  LANGUAGE 
ABILITY 


283 


284 


INDEX  OF  TOPICS 


DAY      DREAMING       IN       SPECIAL 

CASES,  26,  95,  116,  123,  130, 

140,  177 
Delinquency,    lying    considered 

n-latively  a  minor,  269 
Delinquency,     relation     of,     to 

lying,  4 

"Der  grtine  Heinrich,"  25 
Developmental  conditions,  259 
Diagnosis  of  pathological  lying, 

257 
Drug  habitues,  lying  of,  219 

EDNA  F.,  CASE  OF,  82 
Egocentrism  in  certain  cases,  62, 

125,  252 

Emma  X.,  case  of,  172 
Emotions,    Abnormality    of.    in 

certain  cases,  43,  68,  125, 164, 

243 

Environmental  causes,  262 
Epilepsy,  case  of,  2  H» 
Epileptic  mental  states,  252 
Episodic  pathological  lying,  8 

FEEBLEMINDEDNESS,  RELATION 
OF,  to  pathological  lying,  266 

False  accusations  of  illtrml- 
ment,  243,  247;  of  incest, 
183;  of  murder,  163;  of 
poisoning  attempt,  180;  of 
sex  assault,  172,  195,  229; 
of  sex  immorality,  87,  200, 
211,  215,  224 ;  of  sex  perver- 
sions, 188;  of  thieving,  etc., 
179 

False  self-accusations  of  acces- 
sory to  murder,  233;  of  sex 
immorality,  203,  224 

GEORGIA  B.,  CASE  OF,  229 
Gertrude  S.,  case  of,  118 

HABIT,  FORMATION  OF  LYING, 
265 


Habits  in  our  cases,  260 
Hazel  M.,  case  of,  43 
Headaches,  250 
Headaches  of  pathological  liars, 

Stemmermann  on,  26 
Heredity,  258 
Hypomania,  case  of,  220 
Hysteria,  case  of,  229,  24:; 

ILLTREATMENT,  FALSE  ACCUSA- 
TIONS OF,  243,  247 

Incest,  false  accusation  of,  183 

Inez  15.,  case  of,  54 

Insane,  fabrications  of,  4,  257 

Insanity  and  criminalism,  rela- 
tion of,  240 

Itinerancy,  correlated  with  path- 
ological lying, 

JANET  B.,  CASE  OF,  97 
J«*hn  B.,  case  of,  234 
John  F.,  case  of,  246 
John  S.,  case  of,  188 

LANGUAGE  ABILITY,  CASES  OF 
SPECIAL,  48,  51,  (;,',  !),>.  137, 
146,  149,  184,  195,  205,  221 

Language  aptitude  related  to 
lying,  250 

Libby  S.,  case  of,  Ktt 

Lies  mixed  with  delusions,  18, 
19 

Literary  composition  in  certain 
cases,  see  LANGUAGE  ABILITY 

Lying,  relation  of,  to  delin- 
quency, 4 

MARIE  M.,  CASE  OF,  93 

Memory,  special  features  of,  in 
certain  cases,  48,  76,  205 

Mental  abnormality  not  typi- 
cally insane,  case  of,  234 

Mental  conflicts,  263 

Mental  conflicts  and  repressions, 


INDEX  OF  TOPICS 


285 


case  material  bearing  on,  47, 
53,  72,  80,  89, 107  ff.,  116, 120, 
123, 130, 139, 170 /.,  176, 180, 
185 

Mental  discipline  in  treatment, 
274,  278 

Mental  experiences,  early,  262 

Mental  findings,  250 

Murder,  false  accusation  of,  163 

Mythomania,  1 

NELLIE  M.,  CASE  OF,  225 

PATHOLOGICAL  ACCUSATIONS, 
Bresler's  classification  of,  35 

Pathological  accusation,  defi- 
nition of,  2 

Pathological  liars,  analysis  of 
qualities  of,  by  Risch,  21 

Pathological  lying  a  symptom  of 
various  disorders,  Wendt  on,  33 

Pathological  lying,  characteris- 
tics of, 

Delbriick  on,  19, 
Koppen  on,  14,  18, 
Stemmermann  on,  27, 
Vogt  on,  25, 
Wendt  on,  33 

Pathological  lying,  definition 
of,  1 

Pathological  swindling,  2 

Pelvic  irritations,  related  to 
pathological  lying,  273 

Periodicity,  250,  264 

Physical  conditions,  treatment 
of,  273 

Physical  findings,  249 

Physiologic  stress,  periods  of, 
264 

Poetic  creation,  relation  of  path- 
ological lying  to,  25 

Poise,  remarkable  in  cases  of 
pathological  lying,  44,  57,  60, 
66,  78,  100,  125,  141,  179,  181 


Poisoning  attempt,  false  accusa- 
tion of,  180 

Pregnancy,  case  of,  false  accu- 
sations beginning  during,  214 
Prognosis,    favorable    in    some 

cases,  272 
Prognosis  of  pathological  lying, 

270 

Prognosis,  Stemmermann  on,  28 
Prognosis  varies  with  age,  54 
Pseudologia  phantastica,  1 
Psychic  contagion,  263 
Psychopathic  individuals,  252 
Purpose    of    pathological    liars, 
Koppen  on,  19 

REPORT,  PSYCHOLOGY  OF,  11 
Robert  R.,  case  of,  134 
Running  away  from  home,  267 

SELF-MUTILATION,  DETAILS  OF,  in 
one  case,  57,  59,  71 

Sex  assault,  false  accusations  of, 
172,  195,  229 

Sex  habits  in  special  cases,  bad, 
96,  108,  116,  132,  142,  171, 
177,  185,  193 

Sex  immorality,  false  accusations 
of,  87,  200,  211,  215,  224 

Sex  immorality,  false  self-accu- 
sation of,  203,  224 

Sex  life  related  to  pathological 
lying,  physical  side  of,  273 

Sex  of  pathological  liars,  261 

Sex  perversions,  false  accusa- 
tions of,  188 

Simulation  of  ailments  in  special 
cases,  58 /.,  64,  70/.,  83,  95 

Simulation  vs.  hysteria  in  one 
case,  61 

Social  correlations,  265 

Specialized  abilities,  265 

Statistics  on  lying  among  delin- 
quents, 5,  10 


286 


INDEX  OF  TOPICS 


Subnormal  verbalist,  case  of,  142 

Swindling  arising  from  path- 
ological lying,  59 /.,  121,  139, 
145 /.,  160 

Swindling  in  Europe,  cases  of, 
36,  38 

Swindling,  relation  of,  to  path- 
ological lying,  2 

TESTIMONY,  PSYCHOLOGY  OF,  11 
Testimony  Test,  12,  253 
Testimony  Test,   results  on   in 
individual   cases,   46,   52,   62, 
79,  84, 101, 119,  129,  136, 141, 
151,  168,  175,  180,  184,  189, 
1«9,  206,  221,  235,  242,  247 
Testimony    Test,    summary    of 
results  on,  275 


Thieving,  etc.,  false  accusation 

of,  179 
Treatment,  direct,  of  the  lying 

itself,  274 
Treatment     given     in     special 

cases,  49,  91,  117,  142,  177, 

181,  202 
Truancy,  267,  269 

VERBAL  FLUENCY  RELATED  TO 
PATHOLOGICAL  LYING,  251 

Verbalists,  mentally  defective, 
267 

WILLIAM  S.,  CASE  OF,  241 
Wish,  the  morbid  and  fantastic, 
Wendt  on,  33 


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U.  C.  BERKELEY  LIBRARIES 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


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